To Be the Son of Garmadon
by StoriesAreMagic
Summary: (AU of the movie!) "I told your mother that I wanted to build our son's future on the ashes of that fine city." What if Koko had agreed? Lloyd Garmadon has grown up as the pampered and beloved son of Ninjago's supreme rulers, but, once kidnapped by his Uncle Wu's ninja team, Lloyd must face the truth about his parents' past, Ninjago's present, and his own future to save the world.
1. With our main man Lloyd

**AN: Hey everybody! Welcome to "To Be the Son of Garmadon!" Please note that this is an AU of the movie, not the show. The chapter titles are from "Found My Place" by Oh Hush! featuring Jeff Lewis from the The Lego Ninjago Movie soundtrack. I hope you enjoy!**

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Lloyd's eyelids flared open at the call of his name, revealing his eyes, which gleamed menacingly red.

Then his eyelids drooped, and Lloyd yawned, scrunched his eyes up, and rolled over in bed. Pulling his covers over his head, he mumbled, "Uhhh, gimme ten more minutes."

"I'm very sorry, Lad Garmadon," a quivering voice replied, "but the Lady Garmadon requests your presence in the Throne Room."

"Huh?" Lloyd wondered, peeking his head out from his covers and peering at his constantly-nervous personal butler. "What does she want?"

"Lady Garmadon did not say; however, if I am allowed to make a guess, I would hazard to say it has something to do with what day it is?" His butler (what was the new guy's name again? Lloyd really didn't remember; after all, his last butler had only been fired a week ago, but then again he hadn't known that guy's name either) ventured.

"What day it is?" Lloyd repeated sleepily. "What day- oh!"

Lloyd jumped out of bed excitedly, startling his butler, who stumbled back with a squeak.

"It's my birthday!" Lloyd exclaimed proudly.

"Indeed, Lad Garmadon. Uh, if I may say, Lady Garmadon is still waiting for you," his butler said nervously.

"Oh, right! Thanks, you're the best!" Lloyd called back over his shoulder to the butler as he bolted out of his bedroom and into his dressing room. After quickly changing into a cool outfit, Lloyd ran back into his bedroom and scooped up his phone, tossing his pajamas to a nearby maid to be washed. Running down the hall, he passed servant after servant, each of whom hastily bowed or curtsied as he passed. Lloyd skidded around a corner and hurried through a pair of large doors into the Throne Room where Lady Garmadon awaited.

And there she was, sitting on her throne, Misako Garmadon. Her nickname was "Koko" but only her husband and co-ruler called her that. Instead, she was known to all the citizens of Ninjago as "Lady Garmadon" when she was working as the co-ruler of Ninjago or as "General #1" on the rare occasions when she was working as the leader of the army. No matter the situation, however, Lloyd just called her "Mom."

"'Morning!" Lloyd greeted cheerfully, running up to the throne, something only he was allowed to do without asking for permission.

"Good morning, Lloyd," Lady Garmadon said happily, standing and giving him a hug. "Are you excited for your big day?"

"Very!" Lloyd stated enthusiastically, hugging her back. "What've you and Dad got planned?"

Pulling back, Lady Garmadon shook her head at her son fondly. "Oh, you know better than that. Your father and I have been working hard to get everything ready without you figuring it, and you won't figure it out until it happens."

"Awww," Lloyd groaned, but he relented. He did know better; when his parents put their minds to something, nothing could stop them. After all, they had saved Ninjago from certain destruction by themselves when he was only a baby and they had ruled it ever since.

"Now, your father's very sorry he couldn't be here this morning," Lady Garmadon began, sitting back down in her large throne.

"He had that meeting with the farmers from that little village, right?" Lloyd checked, settling into his own throne between his father's and his mother's thrones. "And the meeting with the skeleton, shark, and snake guards after that?"

"Mmm-hmm. But he has a break between meetings, which should be right abouuuuut," Lady Garmadon's voice trailed off.

The sound of Lloyd's favorite song cut her off as it blared from his phone.

"Now!" Lady Garmadon cheered.

Lloyd scrambled for his phone and sure enough, his father's face and name were plastered across the caller-ID screen. Grinning, Lloyd hit "talk" and said, "Hey, Dad!"

"Lloyd! Happy birthday, my boy!" Lord Garmadon gushed. "I can't believe you're sixteen already, it seems like just yesterday you were taking your first steps and saying your first words and your mom and I were arguing over how to pronounce your name! Before I know it, you'll be taking over ruling Ninjago!"

"Aw, Dad!" Lloyd dismissed, but he was smiling.

Lord Garmadon sighed, sounding wistful. "Oh, what a day that will be. You'll firing servants and punishing rebels, rewarding loyal followers and leading strong armies. I can't wait to see it! You'll be the best of your mom and me in our heyday, probably even better."

"As good as you two were when you saved Ninjago from the beast Meowthra?" Lloyd asked hopefully, already knowing the answer.

"As good or more so," Lord Garmadon affirmed.

"Tell me that story again?" Lloyd asked.

"I've only got a few minutes," Lord Garmadon hedged.

"A shortened version, then," Lloyd wheedled. "Please?"

"Oh, all right. Well, your mom and I had just finished saving a small village from some rogue skeletons when we came across Ninjago City, which was being attacked by this huge creature your evil Uncle Wu had summoned. Well, we couldn't have that, so we ran straight into battle!" Lord Garmadon boasted.

"Because you wanted to stop the beast from destroying the city and then moving on to all of Ninjago," Lloyd added.

"Exactly," Lord Garmadon agreed. "It took some time, and the city was practically in ashes by the time we were done, but we defeated Meowthra and banished it and your Uncle Wu to another realm."

"And the citizens of Ninjago City were so grateful that they named you two their new overlords!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Then all of Ninjago realized how awesome you two were and made you rulers of everything, and you recreated it in your own images so it was so much better, right?"

"Right. And one day, you'll take our places and rule Ninjago as its supreme overlord," Lord Garmadon said happily. "But you've got a ways to go. You aren't ruler yet, you're just a kid, a kid that we're preparing to rule one day, but a kid nonetheless. So enjoy being a kid, all right? And enjoy what your mom and I have planned for you today."

"Which isssss…" Lloyd baited.

"Like I'd tell you," Lord Garmadon teased, and Lloyd could practically see what he was doing: pointed teeth bared in a grin, upper arms spread and lower arms crossed, red eyes just like Lloyd's own gleaming.

"I should've known I couldn't get you to crack," Lloyd sighed. "Okay. I gotta get ready for school now. Love you!"

"Love you too, son," Lord Garmadon said fondly.

Lloyd clicked "end call" and smiled at his mom. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Chef!" Lady Garmadon called instead of answering directly.

A man in a white uniform slunk into the Throne Room. "Yes, Lady Garmadon!"

"My son is hungry. Bring him breakfast," Lady Garmadon commanded.

The man bowed low and scurried out.

Lloyd smiled. All was good in Ninjago.


	2. I'm comfortable in my skin

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your response to the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

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Lloyd hummed absentmindedly to himself, staring out the window of the limousine as people bowed and curtsied as the royal vehicle passed. He watched shop after shop and business after business pass by, most of them cluttered with people watching Lloyd on his way to school for his sixteenth birthday but a few without any people at all. Those ones instead had snake, skeleton, and shark warriors and identity locks out front. Lloyd knew those places had to be dangerous places, places where rebels could make mechs to try to hurt Ninjago and its people, so those places had to be locked down with only their residents, people who Lord and Lady Garmadon picked, and Lord and Lady Garmadon themselves allowed in. Lloyd was okay with that. After all, it was something his parents had come up with to keep Ninjago safe.

After a few minutes of driving, the limousine pulled up to his school. The driver got out and opened the door for Lloyd, and Lloyd stepped out, looking around in astonishment. His school had been transformed overnight.

Balloons were tied to stair railings and door handles and even some of the students. Confetti was littered across the ground. Wrapped boxes sat in piles here and there. Everything everywhere was styled in dark gray and purple, his favorite colors, just like his dad's, and stretched above the doors was a huge banner reading "Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Lloyd 'Lad Garmadon' Garmadon! Everyone loves you, and not because we have to or we'll be in danger or anything!" It was amazing.

Lloyd didn't wait for his attendant to get his backpack out; after all, the woman knew his class schedule, she could catch up with him. Instead, Lloyd set off at a trot, examining it all. Student after student bowed and curtsied as he passed, calling to him one after another with respectful greetings and merry birthday wishes.

After several joyful minutes of exploring the changes to his school, Lloyd decided he might as well head to class. Just because it was his birthday didn't mean he didn't still have to do his lessons, after all.

Lloyd went to his homeroom and made a beeline for his seat, the only comfy chair in the whole room, situated front and center so nobody would block his view and impede his learning process, just as his parents made sure it always was.

"Hey, Brad!" Lloyd greeted cheerfully as he went.

"Hello, Lad Garmadon," Brad Tudabone said nervously, bobbing in a bow from where he stood next to his own seat. "Happy birthday, Lad Garmadon. May your special day be incredible, Lad Garmadon."

"Thanks, Brad," Lloyd beamed. "And it's okay, you can call me Lloyd, remember? My parents aren't here and I'm not as formal as they are."

For some reason, Brad shot an anxious glance at the twin shark guards standing at attention at the back of the classroom in case of rebel attacks. "Um, no thank you, Lad Garmadon."

Shrugging and putting Brad's nervous behavior out of his mind, because that's how Brad always was, Lloyd flopped down in his seat.

Now that Lloyd was sitting, all the other students sat in their seats and the teacher started going through the daily announcements. Once the teacher had stated the normal stuff about what was for lunch in the cafeteria and what activities were happening after school, she pointed at the board (which had a drawing of a birthday cake on it) and said, "Finally, and most importantly, it's Lad Garmadon's birthday today! So of course, we've got lots of things planned. Lessons will take place during the afternoon, but for the morning, we've got a celebration planned on the football field. Lad Garmadon, would you like to lead the way there, or would you prefer to wait until everyone is in the stands for you to make a grand entrance?"

Lloyd shrugged amiably. "What do you want me to do?"

"All that matters is what you want, not what I want," his teacher promised. "What would you like to do?"

"I don't really care. I guess I'll lead the way," Lloyd answered. He stood and started making his way out of the classroom, calling behind him when none of the other students moved, "C'mon! It's going to be fun!"

Heading for the football field, Lloyd nodded and waved to the people peering out of the classrooms along the way, smiling when the students and teachers and guards bowed and curtsied before tentatively walking out of their rooms and following him. The citizens of Ninjago were so nice; they respected and loved him as their Lad Garmadon so much that they bowed and curtsied whenever he passed even though there was nothing that said they had to do so.

Lloyd exited the school building and made it to the football field's gates before pausing. Hmmm. Where to go? It was a celebration in his honor, so they might want him on the field where everyone could see him, but then again, they might want him seated comfortably in the special chair reserved for him in the stands so he'd have a good view of whatever festivities his parents had planned and gotten the school to do.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, Lloyd headed up to his seat in the stands. If he was wanted on the field, someone would tell him. Getting settled, Lloyd watched the students, teachers, and guards file into the stands, greeting each one who passed him. "Hey, Sally! How's it going, Finn? Hi again, Brad!"

It took a while for everyone to get settled, even though all the students, teachers, and guards were moving as fast as they could, probably because they were almost as excited as Lloyd was about the celebration. At long last, each student and teacher and guard was seated, and the celebration began.

It was a wonderful celebration, not that Lloyd would've expected it to be any other way with his parents planning it. There were entertainers of all kinds, ranging from the famous many-time-Blade-Cup-winner barbershop quartet The Royal Blacksmiths singing a song in Lloyd's honor to the Cliff Gordon (the actor who played the main character in Lloyd's favorite movies) performing his famed "fair is not a word where I come from" speech. Food aplenty was passed around, all of Lloyd's favorite kinds, mostly dumplings and types of candy. Student after student and teacher after teacher and even many of the guards went down to the field, stepped up to the microphone that had been set up, and proclaimed their favorite things about Lloyd.

Time passed at a breakneck speed, and it felt like only moments had passed when Principal Darkley, who had been supervising everything from the side, came to the microphone. "Thank you all for celebrating in Lad Garmadon's name. Now, if he would like to do so, Lad Garmadon may come down and say a few words, but only if he'd like to do so, of course."

"Sure!" Lloyd exclaimed, rising from his chair and heading down to the field, waving off everyone who stood and bowed or curtsied as he passed.

Principal Darkley stepped back and bowed respectfully as Lloyd came to the microphone.

Clearing his throat, Lloyd looked around with a grin. He was so lucky, so happy, so grateful, so honored. His life was the best, although he was sure all the other citizens of Ninjago felt the same way about their own lives. All the other citizens of Ninjago didn't get to have this much fun, though, he'd bet, but that's because they weren't the son of the beloved and rightful rulers. Oh well. Lloyd cleared his throat again and began, "I'd just like to say-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU BRAT!" A voice screamed.

Confused, Lloyd looked around, wondering who was speaking and to whom they were speaking. Who needed to stop what?

Without any warning, the gates to the football field crashed open and people flooded in, people Lloyd had never seen before. They were strange people, some of them covered in burns and bruises, others dressed in dirt and rags, with still others wearing masks and loose clothing to completely disguise who they were. All of them, however, were clad entirely in one color, either black, blue, white, red, silver, or green, mostly green.

Lloyd stared at them in shock as the strange people ran in. They seemed to be heading straight for him. ...Did they want to wish him a happy birthday too?

"Rebels are attacking!" A shark guard cried. She shook her spear in the air. "Charge!"

Oh. Rebels. Oh, this wasn't good. Lloyd knew about rebels, and now that he had that context, he realized what was going on.

The rebels, for one reason or another, didn't want Lord and Lady Garmadon to rule Ninjago. They wanted to (Lloyd shuddered at the thought) destroy them, and that meant destroying Lloyd too. After they destroyed the Garmadons, the rebels would destroy Ninjago City, re-summon the beast Meowthra and Lloyd's evil Uncle Wu, and under Wu's command sic Meowthra on the rest of Ninjago, not stopping until all was in ruins.

Lloyd was jarred out of his thoughts by a clang, then a rush of noise. The guards had hurried forward and met the rebels midway across the field. He'd heard the clang of the first guard's weapon meeting the first rebel's makeshift weapon, and now all the guards and the rebels were embroiled in fighting.

"Students! Teachers! Everyone, to the school!" Principal Darkley yelled, pointing to the gate on the other side of the field from where the rebels had come from.

At that moment, that gate flung open and more rebels poured in through it.

"Or not!" Principal Darkley yelped. "Stay in the stands! Take cover!"

Noticing the new rebels, the mass of shark, snake, and skeleton guards (who had been soundly on their way to beating the first group of rebels) split in two, one half continuing working on the first group of rebels while the other half ran to meet the new rebels.

Lloyd stood in the middle of the field, stock-still with shock, watching the battle in daze. His parents had tried so hard all his life to keep him safe, and now here he was, in the middle of a fierce fight. What was he to do? What even could he do? He didn't know how to fight, how to use a sword or throw a punch.

Lloyd was struck with a realization as a green-suited rebel snuck past the line of guards and came running at him, a rake held high and ready to hit him with.

He didn't know how to throw a punch.

But he did know how to throw.

Lloyd plucked the microphone from its stand, detached the cord, and threw it with all his might. It soared through the air and hit its target with a resounding smack right in the face.

Lloyd thrust his fists in the air in victory. His dad had taught him to throw well.

Staggering from the impact of a microphone to the face, the rebel went down with a yelp and a guard, noticing that a rebel had gotten close to Lloyd, broke from the back of the group pushing the rebels away. The guard handcuffed the rebel and barked, "Stay down!"

The guard turned to go back to the battle, but just as quickly as the fight had begun, it was already ending. Most of the rebels were fleeing, and those who weren't on the run were being handcuffed and dragged away in shifts.

"Thanks!" Lloyd called to the guard cheerily, although his voice was shaking for some reason.

"No, thank you, Lad Garmadon," the guard replied respectfully before going to help bring all the captured rebels away.

Lloyd trotted over to the stands, where the students and teachers were cowering fearfully. "It's okay now, everybody! The guards have got it handled! It's okay!"

"But are you okay, Lad Garmadon?" Brad asked nervously, peering over the seat he was hiding behind.

Lloyd looked down at himself, then up at Brad. "Uh, I think so. A little shaken-up, but I'll be fine. I think. Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good," Brad said, sounding relieved. For some reason, he looked at the guards leading the rebels away, then he quickly returned his glance to Lloyd. "That's good."

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed. He looked at Principal Darkley, who was pressed up against the stands and looking terrified. Why did he look so scared? The rebels were gone now, and they hadn't even destroyed anything or anybody.

Well. "Hadn't even destroyed anything" might be an exaggeration. The football field was kind of scuffed up; the Ninjago City High football team wouldn't be playing any games on it any time soon. But that was fixable with a little time and effort, and since Lloyd's parents were so kind they'd make sure it got fixed, so it was okay.

"Principal Darkley?" Lloyd ventured. "Are we going back into the school for lunch and lessons now?"

"Uh, yes, yes we are," Principal Darkley stammered. He looked back at the students and teachers huddled in the stands. "Let's go, people! You heard Lad Garmadon! We're going to lunch!"

Slowly, the students and teachers began toward the school, making their way around the last of the rebels and the guards pulling those rebels away. Lloyd followed contentedly, ignoring the strangely desperate looks the rebels around him were giving him. It was lunch time, the rebels weren't going to hurt anybody today, and it was his birthday. Lloyd had nothing to worry about, and for that matter, nobody else had anything to worry about either.


	3. Family keeps you safe from harm

"I'm home!" Lloyd called as he barreled through the doors of the huge palace he called home.

When no one greeted him, he paused and looked around. No Mom and no Dad. They always greeted him when he came home unless one or both of them had a special meeting, and neither of them had said anything about a special meeting today. Besides, it was his birthday. They would've done almost anything to be there when he got home on his birthday so they could celebrate together. Hmmm. Something weird was going on.

"Hello? I'm home! It's Lloyd, I'm home!" Lloyd called out, trotting through the halls.

"Lad Garmadon!" A voice squeaked.

Lloyd spun around. There!

A young maid stood in the doorway to a room.

"Hey, where're my parents?" Lloyd asked, getting right to the point.

"I'm not supposed to say, Lad Garmadon," the maid replied shyly.

"C'mon, tell me. You've got to tell me," Lloyd coaxed. "I mean, it's my birthday, after all. They definitely want to see me."

"Of course they do, Lad Garmadon, but something came up and they can't right now," the maid stated nervously. She was almost downright trembling, now that Lloyd took a closer look at her.

"Are you okay? You look scared," Lloyd observed. Of course, most people looked scared when they interacted with him, but Lloyd's dad said that was because they were in awe of him and felt unworthy to be in his presence. This seemed different. "More scared then most people are around me, that is."

"I'm not supposed to be talking to you, and I'm really not supposed to tell you where Lord and Lady Garmadon are, Lad Garmadon," the maid whispered, looking down at her feet.

"You can talk to me, and you can tell me where they are," Lloyd said firmly.

"I'll get in trouble," the maid whimpered.

"With who? Me? I'm saying you can say it," Lloyd stated. "What's stopping you? Tell me. Please?"

"I can't, I'm sorry, I can't, I'm not allowed," the maid stated.

"Then can you tell me who told you that you can't tell me where my parents are?" Lloyd asked.

"Your parents told me I can't tell you where your parents are, Lad Garmadon," the maid admitted.

"What?" Lloyd balked. Why in Ninjago would his own parents forbid him from being told where they were?

"And I wasn't supposed to say that either!" The maid wailed. "Oh, I'm gonna get in trouble! I'm gonna get fired! I'm too young to get fired!"

"You'll be fine," Lloyd assured, a little bewildered that this maid was so scared of being fired. Couldn't she just go find another job? Sure, working for Lord and Lady Garmadon was probably the most-wanted job in Ninjago because of how awesome they were, but getting fired wasn't the end of the world. "I won't let you get fired."

"Really?" The maid wondered.

"Really," Lloyd affirmed, then he paused. "If you do one thing for me."

"Anything," the maid promised.

"Tell me where my parents are," Lloyd commanded.

The maid blinked. "Oh. Oh, I walked right into that one. Um, I guess it won't do any harm, since I'll already be in such big trouble. They're in the Throne Room, Lad Garmadon. Thank you, Lad Garmadon."

"No problem," Lloyd dismissed, and he took off down the hall again, running for the Throne Room and skidding to a stop in front of the big doors to it. Pulling open the door, he slipped in, then paused immediately.

The scene in front of him was not wholly unfamiliar: his mom and his dad were sitting on their thrones and many guards were lining the walls, just like when his parents heard requests from their citizens. But instead of a row of citizens standing and waiting respectfully for their turns with the beloved rulers, a bunch of rebels sat or knelt in the middle of the room, many of them shaking or weeping or both while the rest of them stared defiantly at the thrones' occupants. What were they doing there? Lloyd had always been told that captured rebels went right to prison to be taught about how wrong they were and how Lord and Lady Garmadon were actually the best things to ever happen to Ninjago.

Curious about what was happening, Lloyd hid behind a nearby curtain, peeking out just enough to fully observe what was going on.

"-and you thought you could attack my son?" Lord Garmadon was raging.

"You thought wrong," Lady Garmadon said coolly.

"Very wrong," Lord Garmadon agreed.

"Very, very wrong," Lady Garmadon added.

"Very, very, very wrong," Lord Garmadon stated. He looked at Lady Garmadon. "Your turn to add a 'very.'"

"Actually, I think I'm tired of 'very' and I'm ready to get on with the interrogation," Lady Garmadon commented, flashing the sharpest smile Lloyd had ever seen on her.

"Of course, dear, of course," Lord Garmadon agreed. He looked at the rebels, lower set and upper set of arms both crossed in anger. "So, what in the Sixteen Realms made you think you could get the upper hand on my son when I, after all, am the one who actually has upper hands?"

"Good one, dear," Lady Garmadon said approvingly.

"I know, right? I just thought of it," Lord Garmadon bragged before turning back to the rebels. "You tried to attack our son. Explain yourselves. You in the front, with the weird circle-snake symbol on your hat."

"It's called the ouroboros," the elderly woman Lord Garmadon had indicated corrected in a creaky voice.

"Yeah, you with the arrabohorro," Lord Garmadon agreed.

"The ouroboros," the woman said again.

"The hour barickey," Lord Garmadon tried.

"The ouroboros," the woman stated firmly. "Stop pretending you don't know what I said. You know what an ouroboros is. You know it stands for the cycle of destruction and creation, you know it's the symbol of the Green Ninja, and you know-"

Lord Garmadon slammed all four of his fists on the arms of his throne. "Do not! Say! That phrase! In! My presence!"

"What phrase? The Green Ninja?" The woman inquired with false innocence.

"That! Yes! Don't say it!" Lord Garmadon roared, fuming with rage.

Lloyd frowned. He didn't think he'd ever seen his father that angry, and he'd seen his dad flip a table when he lost three times in a row on family board game night. And for what was he getting so angry? Over a phrase with no meaning? At least, Lloyd thought that phrase had no meaning. He'd certainly never heard it before.

"Do not say that phrase ever again," Lady Garmadon said, her voice trembling with barely concealed anger.

"Why not? Because you're afraid of the prophecy?" The woman teased.

Now there was a prophecy? Lloyd was getting more and more confused by the moment.

"I am not afraid of the prophecy, because it has no meaning," Lady Garmadon said coolly. "It will never come to pass."

"It's already coming," the woman gloated. "Three of the ninja have already been found, and the Master is on the move to get the others. The prophecy will come to pass. All we have to do in the meantime is do all we can to help the ninja, especially the Green Ninja when they are found, and that is why we attacked your son, because he is spoiled and soft and will not survive the revolution."

Lady Garmadon stood from her throne. "Guards, this one goes first when you fire the rebels out of the volcano."

"WHAT?!" A voice screamed.

All eyes turned to the curtain in the corner where Lloyd was hiding.

That was when Lloyd realized that the voice that had screamed had been his own.

Oops.

Realizing there was no point in hiding anymore, Lloyd came out from behind the curtain and repeated, "Fire the rebels out of the volcano?! What are you talking about?!"

"Son!" Lord Garmadon exclaimed. "What are you doing in here? You weren't supposed to be in here. Oh, whoever told you where we were is getting fired."

"As in, fired out of a volcano?" Lloyd asked. Suddenly, how scared the maid from earlier had been made a lot more sense. "You mean to tell me, all this time, whenever you've fired someone from working here or from going to my school or from whatever else, you've fired them out of a volcano?"

"Well, yes, but they're always fine, just a little burnt and bruised. They just get a lot of time to think on their crimes when they land on the far side of Ninjago and have to make their back," Lord Garmadon reassured.

"Dad! Mom! That's not- you can't do that!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"We only do it to people who deserve it, don't worry, Lloyd," Lady Garmadon soothed. "And they're never harmed. Well, never permanently harmed. Besides, it's the best way of dealing with dangerous people."

"...Dangerous people?" Lloyd repeated.

"Of course! Just like these rebels here. They planned to destroy you, remember? They attacked you at school. They deserve to be punished," Lady Garmadon explained.

"Um, I guess," Lloyd allowed uncertainly.

"We shouldn't be punished for trying to fight for our freedom and our rights," the woman who had spoken earlier piped up.

"Quiet, rebel!" Lord Garmadon snarled. "Guards, we've heard enough from these rotten excuses for people. Take them away."

"Yes, sir!" The guards barked as one, and they began dragging the rebels out of the room one by one, starting with the woman in the front who kept speaking up.

"You can't silence the truth! The prophecy will come true! The Green Ninja will rise!" The woman called, fighting to stay in the room and keep speaking.

"Silence!" Lady Garmadon ordered. "You should show some respect!"

The woman laughed as she was dragged out, yelling as she was forced away, "Respect? Never heard of it!"

"What an old hag, that rebel," Lord Garmadon dismissed, standing from his throne and stretching as the rebels were all dragged away. "Perhaps being fired will do her some good, make her realize the errors of her ways."

"I still don't think firing people out of a volcano is a great way of serving justice," Lloyd stated shakily, but when his parents came to hug him, he hugged them back.

"So, exciting day at school, huh?" Lady Garmadon asked slyly.

Lloyd laughed, quickly falling back into easy conversation with his mom and dad, because even if they did occasionally fire people out of a volcano, they meant well. They'd saved all these people from certain destruction years ago and been crowned the rulers, after all. They had reasons for everything they did. He knew they did. "Yeah, 'exciting' is one word for it. 'Terrifying' would be another good one. Uh, or 'intense.' Maybe 'alarming,' or-"

"That's enough, son," Lord Garmadon laughed. "Boy, you're as clever as your mother, aren't you?"

"And you're as funny as your father," Lady Garmadon told Lloyd.

"No, I'm pretty sure he gets that sense of humor from you," Lord Garmadon disagreed.

"Enough of that, let's go on to the more important stuff," Lloyd butted in.

"Important stuff?" Lady Garmadon asked, falsely innocent. "Hmmm, I wonder what that could be."

"I wonder as well, given that today isn't a special day or anything," Lord Garmadon teased.

"Mom! Dad! I've been waiting and waiting and waiting, please, let's go do whatever you've got planned for my birthday," Lloyd begged.

Lord and Lady Garmadon both laughed.

"Okay, son," Lord Garmadon agreed, still chuckling.

Lady Garmadon nodded. "Let's go."

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**AN: Next chapter we get to what I think you've all been waiting for: the kidnapping! Dun dun dunnn!**


	4. Just me and my clique

**AN: And now for what you've all been waiting for: the kidnapping! I hope you enjoy!**

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Turning off the lights in his room, Lloyd flopped back on his bed, sighing dreamily. It had been an incredible afternoon and evening. His parents had gone all-out for his birthday, bringing him to comic book stores and arcades and amusement parks and candy shops and letting him do and get whatever he wanted at each place. His parents had even commissioned several special inventions for him, including a new video game and a little robot that picked up his candy wrappers for him so he didn't have to call a servant to do it. Now he was pleasantly full of sweets and nicely cozy in new pajamas, and he was ready for sleep. Tomorrow wouldn't be his birthday, but with his parents behind him, it was sure to be almost as great.

Humming a little to himself, Lloyd turned over in bed, pulling his covers up over himself. Everything was good.

Well. Not everything. He needed to convince his parents to find a better system of distributing justice than firing people out of a volcano, because that was really not good. But that was okay. Nobody's parents were perfect; Lloyd's parents just happened to be a little more disciplinary toward rebels than was necessary. Oh well.

Snuggling into his blankets, Lloyd closed his eyes. Mmm. Sleep was on its way, he could feel it hovering just out of his reach. He could almost hear its footsteps as it stepped closer and closer with every moment he stayed still and quiet.

Wait. He could definitely hear its footsteps. But that had been just a metaphor for falling asleep, so there shouldn't be any real footsteps. Why could he hear footsteps?

"That you, butler-whose-name-I-can't-remember?" Lloyd called out sleepily, not opening his eyes. "I don't need anything; you can go to bed."

Something rough brushed against his cheek and Lloyd opened his eyes, only to be met with utter darkness. That was doubly wrong, for one because nothing rough should be in his bed as his parents made sure his sheets and blankets and pillows were of the highest quality and softness, and for two because it shouldn't be completely dark in his room as he always left the door cracked open so a little light from the hallway could filter in.

Startled, Lloyd tried to sit up, but the rough thing that had brushed against his cheek enveloped his head, cinching around his neck, and something else that felt like hands pushed him back down.

"He's awake! Why is he awake? You said he'd be asleep by now!" A voice hissed.

"He was supposed to be asleep by now! Don't blame me, the servants I talked to said he was always asleep by now!" A second voice retorted.

Why were there people in his room? What was around him? Why was he being pushed around? What was going on?

Lloyd was very confused, and he said as much. "Uh, I'm confused."

"Well, unless he talks and sits up in his sleep, then the servants you talked to were wrong!" The first voice growled.

"Stop blaming him and do something about it!" A third voice called from a ways away. A third voice? Wasn't two random people in his room enough?

"Right. Okay, kid, sorry about this," the first voice said, and it almost sounded like it was talking to him.

Lloyd didn't have the time to wonder if he was being spoken to, however, because a moment later something hard slammed into the side of his head, making him see stars in the dark. The hands holding him down let up, but Lloyd didn't move, since he was too stunned from the hit.

"What did you do that for?!" The third voice demanded.

"To knock him out," the first voice said, as if it was obvious.

Regaining control of himself, Lloyd bolted upright into a sitting position and scrambled off his bed, grabbing at whatever was wrapped around his head as he backed away into a corner.

"He's not knocked out!" The second voice exclaimed.

"Duh!" The third voice added.

"That was supposed to work, why didn't that work?" The first voice demanded.

"Because life isn't a movie and punching people in the side of the head doesn't actually knock them out reliably," the third voice scolded. "You're a ninja, not a heavyweight boxer, so be a ninja!"

"Oh, be a ninja, great advice, not like you just stated what he is," the second voice said sarcastically.

At that point, Lloyd finally managed to get the thing off of his head. Tossing it to the side, he looked around the room. Three figures, each with some kind of fabric mask wrapped skillfully around their head so that only their eyes and eyebrows were visible, stood around the room, one leaning against one of his bed's bedposts, one lurking by the completely closed door, and one standing in the middle of the room.

"Aaand now he's seen us. Great," the figure by the door remarked, their voice the third voice Lloyd had heard.

"It's not really a problem, since we were taking him anyway. That's the whole reason we're here in the first place," the figure in the middle of the room stated in the second voice Lloyd had heard.

"Yeah, but we were supposed to take him in his sleep so the first thing he'd see would be the Master, not us," the third-voiced figure retorted.

Ninja. Master. Take him. Finally it clicked for Lloyd, both the situation and some of the things that had been said by the woman in the throne room.

He was being kidnapped by rebels so they could get rid of him and get closer to fulfilling a prophecy to destroy his parents and all of Ninjago.

Lloyd bolted for the door, opening his mouth to scream for help, but he didn't even make it three steps before the figure in the middle of the room had stepped in front of him and clapped their hand over his mouth.

"Hey, take it easy, you're okay," the second-voiced figure soothed.

"Like he's going to believe that," the figure by the bedpost scoffed in the voice Lloyd had heard first. "I literally just punched him in the side of the head. Let's just grab him and get out."

"If we convince him to come with us, it'll be a lot easier," the second-voiced figure pointed out.

"That wasn't part of the plan!" The third-voiced and first-voiced figures protested in unison.

"Neither was him being awake when we came. This way we can talk to him, get him to come along quietly, and not have to carry his unconscious body out the window," the second-voiced figure offered.

"My unconscious body?" Lloyd repeated as he managed to pull the figure's hand off of his mouth.

"You're not helping the mission," the first-voiced figure scolded.

"I'm not helping the mission? You're the one who punched a guy to try and knock him out instead of using pressure points that would actually work!" The second-voiced figure argued.

"Stop talking and use the pressure points," the first-voiced figure ordered.

"Why me? You're the one who was put in charge of knocking him out!" The second-voiced figure protested.

"But you're closest to him, so do it, dude," the first-voiced figure stated.

"Fine, fine, whatever," the second-voiced figure grumbled, and they turned to Lloyd. "Sorry about this."

Lloyd cringed back from whatever the figure was going to do, but the figure just stood there.

"Uh, which pressure points do I use again?" The second-voiced figure asked after a moment.

"Are you serious right now?" The third-voiced figure asked exasperatedly.

The second-voiced figure shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention for that lesson."

"You weren't paying attention for any lesson, probably," the third-voiced figure said waspishly.

"Okay, you guys keep arguing, I'm gonna go now," Lloyd said brightly, and he tried to slip past the second-voiced figure and head for the door.

The second-voiced figure grabbed him by arm and used his own momentum against him, swinging him around and flinging him across the room, right to the first-voiced figure still leaning against the bedpost, who grabbed Lloyd by the shoulders and steadied him. Lloyd began squirming instantly, trying to get away, but the figure's grip was too firm.

"Now get over here and do the pressure points, I'll hold him still," the first-voiced figure demanded.

"Okay, okay, stop being so bossy," the second-voiced figure complained, but Lloyd could hear them getting closer.

"I'm the leader, it's not being bossy when you're actually the boss," the first-voiced figure retorted, not letting up on their grip on Lloyd.

"Don't remind me," the second-voiced figure grumbled, coming right up behind Lloyd. "Okay, so which pressure points are they again?"

The first-voiced figure hummed under their breath for a few moments, then they burst out, "Eight through eleven!"

"Did you just hum through that goofy song you made to remember which pressure points do what?" The second-voiced figure teased.

"It's not goofy, and yeah, I did, because that way I remember them, unlike you," the first-voiced figure replied.

"Ouch," the second-voiced figure laughed. "Okay, pressure points eight through eleven, here we go."

They settled their hands around Lloyd's neck and part of his shoulders, pressing at four specific points.

"Hey!" Lloyd protested automatically, then more weakly, as he started getting dizzy, "hey, stop that, hey-"

"Keep going, he's not out yet," the first-voiced figure ordered.

"Do you see me letting go?" The second-voiced figure asked sarcastically. "Trust me, I want this to work just as much as you do, I'm still going."

"Stop," Lloyd begged, feeling incredibly out of it, "please, I don't-"

His legs buckled and he would've hit the floor if it weren't for the first-voiced figure's grip on his shoulders. The last thing Lloyd thought before he lost consciousness was "This has got to be the worst way to end a birthday ever."


	5. Well you're dealing with a Master

Lloyd's eyes popped open, and he sat bolt upright, glancing around wildly.

He'd been kidnapped!

...And put in a comfy bed, next to a nightstand with a lamp softly shining on him, with the wooden walls around the room covered in posters of tea kettles?

That was weird. Well, that seemed weird. Lloyd had never actually been kidnapped before, so he didn't actually know what kidnappers really did with their victims, but he would've guess it wasn't tuck them into a bed in a nicely decorated room. He would've guessed it was more along the lines of "stick them in a cage" or "trap them in a glass case" or something.

Hesitatingly, Lloyd stepped out of bed and wandered over to the door of the room. Surely it would be locked, but it didn't hurt to try.

Lloyd tried.

It wasn't locked.

Marveling at his luck, Lloyd peeked out through the open door to see a long hallway lined with doors. He slipped out and tried the first door, which opened to reveal… A closet. Okay then. Not helpful.

He tried the next door. That one lead to a rather large bathroom.

He tried another door. This one opened to show a room filled with odd objects: a dummy, a punching bag, a rack of weapons, and so on.

Lloyd was closing the door when he heard voices, familiar voices, the voices of his kidnappers. And they were getting closer. Lloyd dashed back to the room he woken up in and closed the door behind, leaning up against it so he could hear as well as possible without being out in the open.

"-Blame you the extra push-ups we had to do," the third voice was saying. "After all, if you'd accounted for the fact that it was the guy's birthday and so he just might be up a little later, we could've snuck in later, got there after he was asleep, and been in and out just like that."

"The servants promised me their info was correct!" The second voice protested.

"Yeah, and you two promise me you'll eat what I cook, and you never do," the first voice laughed, and after a moment so did the third voice.

"Well, I blame extra push-ups on the fact that a certain someone decided to just punch the guy in the head to knock him out and failed," the second voice pouted. They were getting closer, Lloyd realized, so much closer that they might be right outside the door.

Dashing across the room, Lloyd jumped back into the bed and pulled the covers over himself, scrunching his eyes shut. Maybe they'd peek in and see him "still unconscious" and then leave him alone to plan how to get out.

The sound of the door opening made Lloyd tense up. Leave him be, leave him be, leave him be…

"Looks like he's still out," the second voice observed. "Let's go back to playing Sitar Legend and check on him again in ten minutes."

"I don't think he's still out," the first voice noted, coming closer. "When we left him last, he was all floppy and limp because he was unconscious. Now he's all tense. I think he's up. Kid, you up?"

...Oh. Well, his cover was blown.

Slowly, Lloyd cracked his eyes open. "...Yeah."

Sitting up, Lloyd met the eyes of a guy about his age, or actually probably a little older, with thick eyebrows, longish black hair half-up in a bun, and all-black clothes.

"Hey," the black-haired guy said, his voice the first voice from when Lloyd got kidnapped. "You've been out for a while, we were getting worried."

Lloyd blew out a long breath. "Worried. Right. Worried that I wasn't awake yet so you couldn't act out your nefarious plans."

"Our what-now plans?" The second voice wondered.

Lloyd shot a look in the direction the comment had come from and saw a guy the same age as the first one, but this one with very spiky brown hair and an interesting set of scars across his face, not to mention clothes all in red.

"Your nefarious plans. You know, whatever you plan to do with me before you get rid of me for good," Lloyd spat out, glaring at him.

"Bro, we're not getting rid of you or anything like that," the spiky-haired guy said, sounding bewildered.

"This is why our master told us to come get him the moment this guy woke up," the third voice sighed, coming from a girl about the same age as the two guys, but with black hair up in a ponytail and silver clothes.

"Master? Is that what you call the head of the rebels who want Ninjago destroyed?" Lloyd asked suspiciously.

"Head of the rebels, yes. Want Ninjago destroyed, no," the ponytailed girl answered.

Lloyd blinked. Then he blinked again. What? "The rebels don't want Ninjago destroyed?"

"Nope," the spiky-haired guy stated, popping the "p" exaggeratedly.

"Actually, the rebels want to save Ninjago," the black-haired guy added.

Lloyd's jaw dropped. As soon as he got control over his shock, he stammered, "That's- that's great! That means all we have to do is get the rebels to talk to my parents and they'll find out they both want to help Ninjago and keep it safe and stuff, and then everybody'll be okay!"

"It won't be that easy, I'm afraid," the ponytailed girl said slowly. "You see, the rebels are trying to save Ninjago… From your parents."

"From my parents? But my parents are the best! They saved Ninjago from the beast Meowthra, and they stopped my evil Uncle Wu, and everybody loves them!" Lloyd protested, standing in his confusion and growing anger.

"Wow, he really doesn't know. I mean, we were told he was oblivious, but man, he doesn't know," the black-haired guy marveled.

"I'm not oblivious," Lloyd argued. "And what don't I know?"

"So much," the ponytailed girl said fervently.

"So tell me!" Lloyd burst out. "Tell what I don't know about my parents. Tell me where I am. Tell who the 'Master' is that people keep talking about. Tell me why there are teapot posters on the walls. Tell me everything!"

Someone laughed rustily.

Lloyd peered around the three people standing in front of him to see an old man with a long beard on his face and a conical hat on his head. Lloyd's eyes widened and his jaw dropped for the second time. He knew that man. He'd seen him in pictures in history books and on TV documentaries and even in some very old family photos.

"Uncle Wu?" Lloyd breathed.

The old man grinned. "Hello, nephew. I haven't seen you since you were a baby. Well, I haven't seen you in person, that is."

"But- but you were banished years ago," Lloyd stammered, sitting back down on the bed. "How are you here? ...Wait, where is here? Did I get taken to another realm? Oh. Oh, that's not good, that's not good at all, I-"

"Calm down, nephew," Wu ordered. "You're not in another realm. Everything is fine. Well, everything's not fine, actually, but that's why you're here."

"And here is…" Lloyd's voice trailed off.

Wu smiled at him. "Come with me."

That said, the old man turned and walked out the door.

"That's not an answer," Lloyd muttered. "Or if it is, it's a needlessly cryptic one."

"You'll get used to it," the spiky-haired guy said with a laugh.

"Go on, follow him," the ponytailed girl advised.

"Otherwise he'll make you do chores and disguise them as training exercises," the black-haired guy stated, chuckling a little.

Slowly, Lloyd stood and went out the door. Looking left and right, he caught sight of Wu entering a doorway. Lloyd rushed to keep up with him and found that the doorway led to a flight of stairs, which in turn led up to an opening through which the sun was shining.

Lloyd sprinted past Wu and up the stairs into the sunlight, looking around wildly for a way to escape. For the third time in as many minutes, his jaw dropped.

He was on the deck of a boat, but the boat wasn't floating in a harbor, oh no.

It was flying through the air.

"I'm dreaming," Lloyd declared faintly. "I'm dreaming I got kidnapped by people working for the rebels and got put on a flying boat."

"You're not dreaming, and it's actually the rebels who work for the us, not the other way around," Wu said helpfully, coming up behind and beside him. The sound of more footsteps suggested the three kidnapper teens were also coming up behind him, but Lloyd was mostly focused on his uncle, who continued, "The rebels take care of most of the tasks, leaving us free to spread the word and plan for the endgame. The flying boat and the kidnapping parts are accurate, though I prefer to think of 'kidnapping' as 'involuntary transportation.'"

Lloyd sat down hard, right then and there on the deck of the flying boat, focusing on the first thing his uncle had said. "I'm not dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming," Wu repeated.

"Okay," Lloyd said weakly. "...I think I want an explanation now.

Wu nodded. "And you will have one. Follow me."


	6. And I never knew I had this power inside

Getting up, Lloyd followed Wu across the deck of the ship, back down the stairs, and into the hallway from before.

Wu opened a door that Lloyd hadn't tried to open before and went in.

Hesitating for a moment, Lloyd glanced over his shoulder at the three teens from before, who had followed him and Wu back downstairs.

"Go on," the ponytailed girl encouraged. Beside her, the spiky-haired guy made shooing motions with his hands and the black-haired guy nodded in agreement.

"I'm going," Lloyd said, but for some reason he couldn't make himself move. He couldn't quite see what was in the room Wu had entered, and though he now knew the rebels these people worked with were actually in favor of saving Ninjago (from his parents? That didn't make sense, Lloyd must've heard wrong), he still was suspicious, and yeah, okay, a little scared. "I- How am I supposed to know this'll be safe? You guys go first."

"Our master already went in there, so it's obviously safe." the black-haired guy said reasonably. "Now you go."

"Wait, my Uncle Wu is the master you were talking about? He's the head of the rebels?" Lloyd wondered, not moving. "But he's supposed to be evil, and also in another realm, how is he here and in charge of a group that thinks it's going to save Ninjago?"

The spiky-haired guy shook his head with a smirk. Stepping forward without answering any of Lloyd's questions, he grabbed Lloyd's arm and tugged him forward through the hall and into the room Wu had entered.

Startled, Lloyd let him.

Once in the room, the spiky-haired guy let Lloyd's arm go and swept his own arm around the room, announcing, "Ta-daaa! It was safe all along."

"Yeah, I see that now, but being kidnapped doesn't give you great faith in your safety with the people around you," Lloyd said dryly, glancing around at the table surrounded by chairs (one of which already held Wu), the counter covered in various kitchen items plus what strongly resembled a large treasure chest, and the wall plastered over with pieces of paper.

"He's got a point, bro," the ponytailed girl pointed out as she entered the room.

"Yeah, I guess," the spiky-haired guy admitted.

"Sit down, you two," the black-haired guy told the other two, flopping down in a chair and leaning against the table. "The sooner we're sitting and silent, the sooner Master Wu will start talking, and the sooner we can get going with the endgame plan."

The ponytailed girl and the spiky-haired guy quickly sat.

"Lloyd, you may sit as well," Wu spoke up.

Tentatively, Lloyd sat as far from the three kidnappers and his uncle as possible, which wasn't very far. "So. Uh. How about that explanation?"

Wu nodded. "Let me start by asking you a question. What do you know about the Battle of Meowthra?"

"A lot. Mom and Dad tell me that story all the time, and we've learned about it in school too," Lloyd stated. "You, um, attacked Ninjago City with this really weird, really big creature you called Meowthra and got banished for it. My parents saved the city and were made the rulers, and soon everybody else wanted to be ruled by them too, and that's how we got the awesome world we have today."

The three teens burst out laughing.

"Why you laughing?" Lloyd asked the teenagers, completely and utterly bewildered, before turning to his uncle. "Why are they laughing?"

"They're laughing because they know the true story of the Battle of Meowthra and hearing the lies Lord and Lady Garmadon have been telling is absurd to them," Wu said calmly. He gave the three teens a stern looks. "However, given the fact you still believe those lies, they should be taking things more seriously."

"Sorry, Master," the ponytailed girl said, stopping mid-laugh.

"Sorry," the spiky-haired guy repeated.

The black-haired guy bowed his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Master."

"Now, students, since you know the true story, perhaps you could relate it to Lloyd?" Wu said lightly.

"I thought you were going to do it," the spiky-haired guy protested.

Wu raised an eyebrow.

The ponytailed girl elbowed the spiky-haired guy in the side and said pointedly over the spiky-haired guy's pained exclamation, "We'd be happy to tell him the true story, Master Wu. It started about sixteen years ago, when Master Wu was in Ninjago City. Well, actually it started over a hundred years ago, with a very powerful master and a battle between brothers and a bunch of realm-crossing and a lot of confusing stuff."

"But all you really need to know about that is that there are a bunch of realms that are really hard to get back and forth between, and that Ninjago's history and timeline are pretty confusing," the black-haired guy added.

"Very confusing," the spiky-haired guy corrected.

"Very confusing," the ponytailed girl agreed fervently. "And also you need to know that there are prophecies that foretell things that are going to happen."

Lloyd nodded, getting what had been said already and eager to hear more.

"Anyway, all that stuff happened over a hundred years ago, and then about sixteen years ago there were a pair of skilled warriors who had teamed up to fight battle after battle for several years earlier. One used to fight for good, the other had fought for evil, and then when they met they came to some sort of villainous agreement and basically started fighting anyone and everyone and trying to conquer them," the black-haired guy explained.

The spiky-haired guy picked up the story and continued, "They had taken over several small villages, but apparently that wasn't enough for them, because they came to Ninjago City and began trying to take it over. Luckily for the people of Ninjago City, Master Wu was there at the time and he fought them off with help from this group of mech-using fighters called the Elemental Masters, which he was the leader of."

"So the two villainous warriors retreated, and the Elemental Masters and the people of Ninjago City celebrated, but it wasn't really over," the ponytailed girl stated. "The two warriors came back, and this time they had help: a bunch of snake-people, a bunch of skeletons, and a bunch of people dressed like sharks. Worst of all, they had a beast called Meowthra."

Two skilled warriors? An army of snake-people, skeletons, and people dressed like sharks? A battle in Ninjago City? Oh. Oh, Lloyd thought he knew where this was going, and it made him sick to his stomach.

"Meowthra was like nothing any of the Elemental Masters had fought before. They managed to banish it to another realm, but at the cost of that generation of Elemental Masters' powers," the black-haired guy said gravely. "Without their powers, the Elemental Masters fought their hardest in their mechs, but they were defeated. The two warriors and their army of snakes, skeletons, and sharks took over Ninjago City and soon, all of Ninjago."

"The Elemental Masters were all imprisoned or forced to help the warriors by being threatened. Only Master Wu escaped, and even he only barely got away. The rest of the citizens were put under the warriors' control, and things got really bad, really fast. There wasn't enough food because most of it went to the army, and there wasn't enough clean water because the battle had dirtied up a lot of it. To make things worse, the people were forced to do whatever the warriors wanted, and often it was stuff like begging the warriors for supplies or praising the warriors for the smallest things or being shot out of a volcano for forgetting to bow or curtsy to the warriors or the rulers when they passed by. To keep people from making things to help them fight back, warriors and special identity locks were placed outside places where people could try to make mechs to fight back, from junkyards to inventors' shops. To keep people obedient, the rulers fired them out of a volcano if they did anything 'wrong,' even the smallest thing, like not calling them by their titles. There seemed like there was nothing anyone could do. People started losing hope," the spiky-haired guy explained, frowning heavily.

The ponytailed girl had been looking sad, but then she began smiling as she spoke. "But then there came a prophecy, the prophecy of the Green Ninja."

"I've heard of that before," Lloyd blurted out. "One of the rebels mentioned it to my dad, and he got really, really mad. What does it mean?"

"Well, the Green Ninja is the one who's supposed to save Ninjago. With the help of some other new Elemental Masters, the Green Ninja will rise to fight the destruction that's been going on and create a new age for Ninjago. The Green Ninja is going to defeat the two villainous warriors," the ponytailed girl told him.

"And the two villainous warriors…" Lloyd's voice trailed off. He swallowed hard. "They're my parents, aren't they."

"That didn't sound like a question," the black-haired guy commented, raising his thick eyebrows.

Lloyd shook his head gravely. "I don't think it was. I mean, if I believe the story you're telling, that's the only thing that makes sense."

"And do you believe the story?" Wu asked, speaking up for the first time in a while as he gazed at Lloyd.

Lloyd met his uncle's eyes. "I don't know. I mean, yesterday some of the rebels said things that make more sense with what you're saying than with what I've been told. Plus the fact that you're here rather than in another realm means that at least some of what I know is wrong. And the stuff about firing people out of a volcano, I just learned about that and it kind of scares me that my mom and dad would do that, and it's confusing why people would keep wanting them to rule Ninjago if they do stuff like that, but it would fit if they were actually, like, evil conquerors. But I don't know. I've always thought of my parents as the beloved and benevolent lord and lady of Ninjago, chosen by the people to rule. What does it mean if they're not who I think they are?"

"All of us find out that our parents are flawed at some point. That's a large part of growing up," Wu said wisely.

"But your parents are a lot more flawed than most," the spiky-haired guy said helpfully.

Lloyd shook his head. "I just- I don't know. I don't know, okay? I want to believe that my parents are good. I want to believe that I haven't been living in some, like, dystopian world this whole time. I don't want to believe that there's a whole prophecy about my mom and dad needing to be defeated! I mean, if what you're saying is true, there's some person out there whose whole life has been leading up to stopping my parents from hurting people."

"Not some person out there," Wu corrected.

"Huh?" Lloyd wondered.

"The Green Ninja is not 'some person out there.' The Green Ninja is in here," Wu explained.

Lloyd's eyebrows shot up. He glanced with fervor between the three teens who had kidnapped him. "One of you is prophesied to defeat my parents?"

"Not me," the black-haired guy said quickly.

"Me neither," the ponytailed girl added.

"Not me either, although I wish it was me," the spiky-haired guy said slightly sullenly.

Lloyd slowly turned to face Wu. Hesitantly, he asked, "Is it you?"

Wu shook his head. With a fond smile on his face, he explained, "No, Lloyd. It's you. You are the Green Ninja."


	7. I'm where I belong

"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. No way," Lloyd declared flatly, standing up from his chair. "Me believing you only goes so far. I can maybe believe my parents being evil. I can possibly believe the rebels wanting to save Ninjago. I'll even say there's a chance I can believe there's a prophecy about my parents getting defeated by someone. But I can't, I cannot believe that the someone who's going to defeat my parents is me."

The three teens sitting around the table exchanged uneasy glances.

Wu just kept smiling. "Oh, nephew. There is so much that you do not know, so much you have to learn about yourself, others, and the world."

"Like what?" Lloyd challenged, folding his arms.

"Do you recall what we told you about the Elemental Masters?" Wu asked.

Lloyd nodded. "They supposedly fought against my mom and dad when my parents tried to conquer Ninjago City, right?"

"Right. What do you think made someone an Elemental Master?" Wu asked.

"Some sort of agreement that they'd help the other Elemental Masters fight?" Lloyd tried.

Wu shook his head.

"A secret code?" Lloyd asked.

Wu shook his head.

"They just decided to start calling themselves that?" Lloyd attempted.

Wu shook his head and asked, "Do you remember what happened when the Elemental Masters defeated Meowthra?"

"You guys said that they did it, but their generation lost their powers, whatever that means," Lloyd recalled.

"What makes an Elemental Master is their elemental powers," Wu said clearly.

Lloyd raised his eyebrows and repeated, "Elemental powers?"

"Elemental powers," Wu said again.

"Elemental powers," Lloyd mused.

"Elemental powers," Wu agreed.

"Please stop saying 'elemental powers' and just tell him what it means," the spiky-haired guy said waspishly.

"Hush," Wu chided. "I get there in my own time."

"Sorry, Master," the spiky-haired guy stated, not sounding sorry at all.

"Elemental powers are abilities passed down from parents to children," Wu explained.

"So like, being able to ride a bike, or tie a tie, or catch or throw a ball?" Lloyd questioned.

Wu chuckled. "No. These abilities are special abilities, abilities that no one else has, abilities that have great, true, full potential. You see, each Elemental Master has the power to control their element. The Master of Wind, for example, could manipulate the wind."

"The Master of Fire can manipulate fire," the spiky-haired guy piped up.

"The Master of Water can manipulate water," the ponytailed girl continued.

"The Master of Earth can manipulate earth, and so on," the black-haired guy added.

"And the Green Ninja, as the Master of Energy, can manipulate energy. That's you, Lloyd. You can manipulate energy," Wu said solemnly.

Lloyd shook his head firmly. "No. No, I can't. No, I've never done anything even close to that. No. You're lying. And if you're lying about that, how am I supposed to know that you're not lying about the prophecy and the rebels and my parents?"

"Let me show you something," Wu stated. He stood and walked over to the counter, picking up the chest that lay there and bringing it over to place it on the table. "In here are the Ultimate Weapons, the artifacts that help new Elemental Masters unlock their powers, and the Golden Weapons, the artifacts which will glow when arranged in the presence of the Green Ninja. I want to hand you the Energy Ultimate Weapon and put the Golden Weapons in front of you. If the Ultimate Weapon does nothing and the Golden Weapons stay as they are, then you are free to assume we are lying about everything. You can go back home. You can return to your everyday life. You can forget this whole thing ever happened."

Lloyd hesitated. "And if the Weapons do what you say they'll do?"

"Then you'll know we're telling the truth about everything, evil parents, Green Ninja, and all," Wu explained.

Lloyd thought about that. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."

Wu nodded, like he'd known Lloyd would say that. "Students, arrange the Golden Weapons in front of him. I'll hand him the Energy Ultimate Weapon."

"Yes, Master," the black-haired guy said respectfully, and he, the ponytailed girl, and the spiky-haired guy stood and went to stand by Wu. Together, the three teens pulled out four shiny weapons from the box: a scythe, a pair of nunchucks, a sword, and a pair of shurikens. They placed the weapons on the table and carefully started nudging them into place.

Wu came over to Lloyd holding a strange item shaped kind of like a branch, but bright green. "When I say so, students, get the Golden Weapons into their arrangement."

"Yes, Master," the ponytailed girl chirped.

"I'll give Lloyd the Energy Ultimate Weapon at that moment. Ready. Set. Go, now!" Wu commanded.

Immediately, the three teens pushed the Golden Weapons together on the table and Wu shoved the green branch-thing into Lloyd's hands.

For a split second, nothing happened, and Lloyd was simultaneously overjoyed and a tiny bit saddened. Then, oh, then something warm pulsed behind Lloyd's eyes and the branch-thing in his hands sprang to life, emitting a bright glow of rays of green from between his hands. Lloyd dropped the branch-thing in surprise, but the glow kept on, well, glowing. That's when Lloyd realized the glow wasn't coming from the branch-thing.

The glow was coming from his hands.

Lloyd looked up to see the four Golden Weapons on the table also glowing. He gaped at them, mouth hanging open and eyes as wide as they could go.

"Check out his eyes!" The spiky-haired guy crowed. "They're green!"

"They are?" Lloyd managed to ask through his shock.

Wu smiled and tilted his head toward the room's window, which Lloyd peered at only to see his reflection staring back with green eyes that seemed to glow.

"Do you believe we're telling the truth now, nephew?" Wu asked.

Speechless, all Lloyd could do was nod and look back down at his hands. A moment later, the glow stopped, and he looked back up at Wu.

"Lloyd, you are the Green Ninja. You are destined to save Ninjago from your parents with the help of the other ninja," Wu declared, nudging the Golden Weapons out of place so they stopped glowing and picking up the branch-thing from the floor.

"...Okay, but I don't know how much help I'm going to be," Lloyd warned.

"You're going to be a lot of help just by being you," the ponytailed girl commented. "And I don't mean that in the 'hooray, being yourself is the best thing to be' way, although that is true. I mean it in the 'you're the son of Garmadon and so you can get into places most people aren't allowed to go to' way."

"There are places I can go to that most people can't?" Lloyd echoed in confusion. Then he remembered what the spiky-haired guy had said. "Oh. Do you mean places where warriors and identity locks are? I've seen those before. You think I could get past those?"

"You're sixteen now. Your parents have started preparing to have you take over ruling Ninjago for them, and my sources say that has included including you in their identity locks," Wu explained. "We'll need to bypass some identity locks to secure things we must have to successfully revolt against your parents. We need parts to make mechs and blueprints to give us instructions to make mechs. We'll also need to find two more Elemental Masters, as the prophecy of the Green Ninja stated that six ninja in total, including the Green Ninja, will be needed to face Lord and Lady Garmadon."

"How are we supposed to find all of that stuff and those people?" Lloyd wondered.

"Simply follow my instructions and all will turn out," Wu said simply. Just like that, he stood and left the room, calling back, "I will return."

Lloyd frowned. "That was unnecessarily mysterious."

The spiky-haired guy laughed. "That's Wu for you. There's always something he hasn't told us yet."

"Speaking of things that you haven't been told," the ponytailed girl said thoughtfully. "Have we even introduced ourselves yet? Did Wu tell you who we are?"

Lloyd shook his head. "You're three of the six ninja, right?"

The ponytailed girl nodded. "Right. I'm Nya, Elemental Master and Ninja of Water. That's my brother, Kai, Elemental Master and Ninja of Fire-"

"Let me introduce myself," the spiky-haired guy interrupted. He gave Lloyd a cocky grin. "I'm her brother, Kai, Elemental Master and Ninja of Fire."

"That's exactly what I just said," Nya said bluntly.

"But now I said it," Kai stated, as if that explained everything.

"What does that have to do with-" Nya began.

"And I'm Cole, Elemental Master and Ninja of Earth," the black-haired guy butted in over Nya. "We're glad you're here. Now we're one step closer to freeing Ninjago."

"Because Ninjago needs to be freed," Lloyd said heavily. "From my parents."

The three ninja exchanged glances.

"Listen, Lloyd. It's gotta be tough, learning all this so quickly," Kai said slowly. "Although I said I wished I was the Green Ninja, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. It must be really hard to know you have to fight your parents. I can't even imagine my parents being evil. This situation stinks for you."

Lloyd nodded glumly.

"But the good news is, now you know the truth. Now you can do something about it. Now you can save Ninjago! Doesn't every person dream as a kid of saving the world? I know I did. And you get to do it!" Kai enthused.

For a moment, that cheered Lloyd up, and he gave Kai a grateful smile. Then he remembered who exactly he was saving the world from. His smile disappeared immediately.

"Uh, I saw a smile for a second there. Where'd it go?" Kai asked.

"It's just going to take some time to get used to this," Lloyd admitted. "I just wish I could get my mind off of it."

"Well, the good news is, when Master Wu goes off on his own like this, there's no telling when he'll come back," Cole pointed out.

Nya nodded. "Which means we have time to help you get used to it, or at least get your mind off of it. Do you want to hear some stories?"

Lloyd scrunched up his face. "What kind of stories?"

Nya grinned.


	8. I'm throwing caution to the wind

**AN: This is an especially big chapter, so I hope you enjoy especially well!**

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no, when Master Wu popped out of nowhere that first time, Cole was the one who screamed, not me!" Kai argued.

Nya and Cole shook their heads, grinning at him. Lloyd didn't know the real answer, but he wanted to be part of the fun, so he shook his head and grinned too.

Kai pouted. "I'm telling you, it was Cole!"

"No, Cole's the one who screamed when that bird flew out of the cupboard in that old house we had a rebel meeting at," Nya corrected.

Cole covered his face with his hands. "Don't remind me."

"You probably thought it was a dragon, didn't you," Kai said mock-sympathetically, obviously happy to get the attention off of himself.

"Did not!" Cole argued. "I was just surprised. And even if it was a dragon, I wouldn't have been scared."

"Surrrre," Kai said, laughing.

"I'm past that now. Dragons are cool, even if they aren't actually from this realm. I'm no longer scared of them," Cole dismissed.

"Wait, dragons are real?" Lloyd wondered.

Cole grinned. "Yeah. They're from a different realm, but they're real. They're pretty cool, too. Master Wu visits their realm sometimes and he always has the best stories when he comes back from there."

Nya and Kai nodded in agreement.

"I am glad to hear you like my stories," Wu's voice said from right behind Lloyd.

Lloyd jumped, but the other three ninja barely flinched. From the numerous stories they had just been telling him, apparently Wu did that a lot, so it made sense they would have gotten used to it. Lloyd, on the other hand, was not used to it, and he breathed out a deep sigh as Wu rounded the table with a scroll of paper in his hands.

"It is somewhat surprising you like my stories, as you often fall asleep during them," Wu continued teasingly.

"When you tell them at sunrise when we've been up all night waiting for you to return, yeah, we do," Kai scoffed.

Wu chuckled, placing the scroll of paper on the table and unrolling it. "I suppose that is fair. I shall have to find a better sense of timing."

"What's that?" Nya asked, leaning over the table to try to get a good look at the newly-unrolled scroll. Cole and Kai did the same thing, and after a moment, Lloyd did too.

"This is a map of Ninjago," Wu explained. He began pointing at different parts of the scroll. "Here, here, here, and here are the places with the largest concentrations of warriors. Over the next week, I will be working on directing the rebels in attacking them. We will not need to win, we just need to wear them down so when we go for Lord and Lady Garmadon in seven days, the warriors will be too tired to fight us off."

"Wait, in seven days?" Lloyd repeated. "That's when you plan to attack my parents?"

"That's when we plan to attack. We. You're a part of the team now too," Cole corrected.

Lloyd waved a hand impatiently. "Yeah, right, whatever, I'm a part of the team, but in seven days? You think I'll be ready that soon?"

"You will have to be," Wu said gravely. "Now that we have you, we must move quickly. Lord and Lady Garmadon know by now that you are gone and they will not stand for what they see as the rebels holding their son captive. They will be putting all of their resources into attacking the rebels and finding you, so we do not have a lot of time. You will have to be ready to defeat them."

"Okay," Lloyd said in a tiny voice. He didn't think he would be ready, but it didn't sound like he was going to have a choice.

Wu continued on as if Lloyd had never spoken, pointing at a different part of the scroll. "As I direct the rebels, you four will go into the desert here and collect the parts we need for making mechs."

Cole peered at the scroll. "That's a junkyard. You think we're going to find the very specific parts we need in a junkyard?"

"I think you will find more than parts there," Wu said mysteriously.

Shrugging, Cole stated, "If you say so, Master."

"Then, you will go here, to this island in the Endless Sea," Wu continued, pointing to another part of the scroll.

"What are we going to find on an island?" Kai asked.

Wu smiled. "Blueprints for crucial parts of our mechs, of course."

"Oh, of course, blueprints, on a random island in the Endless Sea, that makes sense," Kai said sarcastically. "Are we gonna find anything else?"

"Yes," Wu stated, but before Kai could ask anything about what else they'd find, Wu added, "You must use your ninja skills as best you can to sneak in and out of these places. Lord and Lady Garmadon cannot know Lloyd is working with us. You may use your elemental powers if absolutely necessary, but be careful with them, as you are still learning their true potentials."

Kai made a face, but Nya said, "We'll be careful, Master."

"I will procure a ninja suit for Lloyd as soon as I can, but in the meantime, you will need to get him a slightly less conspicuous outfit, so he will be able to avoid any unwanted attention, by which I mean any attention at all," Wu explained, eying Lloyd, who suddenly felt very self-conscious of the fact that he was wearing his pajamas.

"Yes, Master," Cole agreed.

"And most importantly," Wu said. "You must bring the Ultimate Weapons with you."

"Huh?" The three ninja voiced as one.

"You never know when you might meet an Elemental Master. And besides," Wu said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, "they double quite handily as blunt objects to bludgeon opponents with. And they look cool!"

"...Okay then," Kai said slowly, fidgeting a little. "May we go now, Master?"

"You may get ready to go now, yes," Wu agreed.

"C'mon, Lloyd, let's find you something to wear," Cole suggested.

Ten minutes and numerous outfits modeled for the three ninja's approval later, Lloyd stepped out of the bathroom in Cole's hoodie and Kai's jeans, holding his arms out to his sides. "Well? How's this one?"

Cole, Nya, and Kai considered it.

"I have to say, that hoodie suits you," Nya admitted.

"Green is definitely your color," Kai agreed.

"Why didn't we try it sooner? He is supposed to be the Green Ninja, after all," Cole pointed out. "He looks like a normal teen. I say we go with it."

Kai nodded.

"Then it's settled. You look good, Lloyd," Nya praised.

Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "Thanks?"

"I grabbed the Ultimate Weapons while you were changing two outfits ago," Cole stated, pulling the brown chest out from behind him. "Nya, do you remember the coordinates of where we're headed?"

"I've got 'em," Nya confirmed, tapping her temple with one hand.

Cole nodded to her. "Awesome. And Master Wu's already left to go to one of the big warrior bases, I saw him heading out when I grabbed the Ultimate Weapons, so we're good to fly on over there."

Fly. Right. This was a flying boat. A flying boat that was going to take him and three ninja on a mission to gather materials to help defeat his parents, who were actually evil warlord dictators. Lloyd shook his head hard, trying to shake off the strangeness of the situation but only succeeding in making himself dizzy and making Kai, Cole, and Nya look at him funny.

"Lloyd? You good?" Kai wondered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Lloyd stated, not quite as confidently as he wanted to, and he nodded to Kai. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go."

Kai looked unconvinced, but he nodded back.

Nya led the way to the ship's control bridge and began setting their course with a little help from Cole, who set the Ultimate Weapons chest on the floor next to him, while Kai went through an explanation of what the different ship's instruments were with several interjected corrections and additions by Nya.

"-And that's pretty much everything in here," Kai stated as he finished showing Lloyd around. "It's actually kind of cool. The computers and the equipment and everything all come from different ships and mechs and planes and all sorts of different things, with all sorts of different histories, and now they're all together in the Destiny's Bounty."

"The what-now?" Lloyd asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"This ship is called the Destiny's Bounty," Cole explained, coming up alongside Kai and leaning against the wall.

"The course is all set?" Kai asked.

Cole nodded. "We're on our way. We'll be there pretty soon."

"In about fifteen minutes," Nya confirmed, coming over and joining them. "So, normally, while the Destiny's Bounty brought us places, we'd train using our elemental powers. But Master Wu hasn't taught you how to access your power yet, Lloyd, so you at least probably shouldn't do that."

"He could watch us, though," Kai pointed out, glancing at Lloyd. "Would you want that?"

"I think that could be cool," Lloyd admitted.

Kai grinned. "Awesome. C'mon, let's go to one of the training rooms."

Kai led the way to a large, mostly-empty room, its walls lined with various weapons, targets, and practice dummies. Taking a sword off one of the walls, he explained, "If we use weapons, we can channel our powers through them. Watch this."

Taking a few practice swings with the sword, Kai took a deep breath and squinted carefully at a target on the opposite wall. Then he swiftly jabbed the sword forward. A ball of flame burst from the sword, barreling toward the target and exploding in a shower of embers as it made contact with the edge of the target.

Lloyd's mouth dropped open as he watched the embers flicker out. "Whoa."

"Pretty sweet, right, bro?" Kai bragged, turning to face Lloyd.

"Very sweet," Lloyd agreed fervently.

"If I wanted, I could make the fire stay lit and just completely light the target on fire," Kai told him. "Wanna see?"

Before Lloyd could respond, Kai jabbed the sword forward again. Another, larger ball of flame came barreling forth, this one hitting the center of the target. This time, instead of showering embers that quickly flickered out, the ball of flame kept on burning as it made contact, and with a whooshing sound, the whole target burst into flame.

Kai grinned at Lloyd. "Awesome, right?"

"Uh, is that supposed to happen?" Lloyd asked nervously, pointing at the wall, where the flame was spreading from the target to the wall itself.

Kai's eyes bugged out. "Ummm…"

"Good job, Kai," Cole praised sarcastically. "See, this is why Master Wu tells us to be careful, dude."

"I didn't think it was going to do that!" Kai protested. "I thought-"

Nya sighed loudly over Kai's explanation and stepped forward, raising her hands. To Lloyd's amazement, a ball of water formed between her hands. She thrust her hands forward, and a stream of water flowed from the water ball between her hands, hitting the target and its surrounding wall.

With a loud hissing sound, the fire went out.

"Ta-daaaa," Nya said in a sing-song voice.

Lloyd applauded.

"Thank you, thank you," Nya said dramatically, bowing repeatedly. "I'll be here all week."

"What about you, Cole?" Lloyd asked. "What kind of things can you do?"

"As the Master of Earth, I can do the most with my powers when I'm on the ground," Cole explained, walking over to the closest wall and pulling a practice dummy off of it.

"In a similar way, I can do a lot more when I'm surrounded by water, and Kai can do a lot more when there's a bunch of fire around," Nya added helpfully.

Cole nodded, setting the practice dummy up and heading back to the wall of weapons. "But I can still do some cool tricks. Check this out."

Lloyd watched as Cole selected a huge hammer from the wall and wound up. Sprinting forward, Cole swung the hammer down at the dummy. It connected with a bang so loud Lloyd's eyes closed involuntarily.

"Good one, Cole," Kai approved.

Lloyd opened his eyes to see the dummy completely flattened against the ground, cracks splintering across its whole body. "Nice! How'd you do that?"

Cole slung the hammer over his shoulder with a smile. "I have all the strength of a massive boulder. It's pretty neat."

"Show me some more," Lloyd begged.

Judging by their trio of grins, the three ninja were happy to oblige, and they spent the rest of the trip demonstrating different uses of their powers for Lloyd. The time passed quickly, though, and sooner than Lloyd would've thought possible, Nya stated that it was time to go to the control bridge so she could land the ship.

Lloyd followed Nya, Kai, and Cole back to the control bridge. He peered out the windows curiously, looking down at the desert below. He'd been to the desert before, of course, since his parents had brought him all over Ninjago to show him the places he would one day rule. But he'd never been to the desert without being escorted by a large group of guards and his parents.

Something in his chest twinged at the thought of his parents. Logically, Lloyd now knew they were evil, but emotionally, it was a different story. Emotionally, all he could picture was all the good times he'd had with them, all the things they had taught him, all the ways they had shown their love for him. Why didn't they love all the citizens of Ninjago the way they loved him?

Before Lloyd could figure that out, he was quite literally shaken out of his thoughts by a small shudder going through the Destiny's Bounty. He stumbled, grabbing at a nearby control panel to regain his balance and looking around to see Kai, Nya, and Cole all perfectly steady. "What was that?"

"Sorry, Lloyd," Nya called over her shoulder, hitting a few buttons and flipping a level on the control panel she was next to. "That was just us landing. The stabilizers for landing are a little on the fritz right now. We should've told you. We're used to it, but you obviously aren't."

"So, we're here," Cole stated, picking up the Ultimate Weapons chest from where he had placed it on the floor when they had entered the control bridge the first time. "Here's our plan. Nya, you know what parts the mechs need, so you're in charge of getting them. Kai, you help her. I'll be on watch, holding the Ultimate Weapons in case we need them. Lloyd, all you've got to do is open the identity lock and then stick close. Everybody got that?"

"Yes," Nya answered.

"Yup," Kai agreed.

Lloyd bobbed his head in the affirmative nervously.

"All right. Let's go," Cole declared, pulling the mask of his ninja suit up to cover his face.

Kai and Nya did the same with the masks of their ninja suits.

Lloyd, being without a ninja suit and therefore without a mask, hesitated for a moment, then flipped up the hood of the hoodie he was wearing. He followed Cole, Nya, and Kai out of the control bridge and onto the deck of the Destiny's Bounty.

Cole led the way to the side of the deck, and then, without any hesitation, jumped right off.

Lloyd gaped over the side down at him. Cole had just jumped down at least four times his height and didn't seem affected at all. He had even landed on his feet and was still holding the chest with the Ultimate Weapons in it.

Before Lloyd could ask him how he'd done it, however, Nya jumped overboard as well, and then Kai did, doing a flip as he went and still landing on his feet just like Cole and Nya had.

"Come on, bro," Kai called up to him.

"I don't know if I can jump that far without getting hurt," Lloyd called down nervously.

"You're a ninja now, you can do it," Kai encouraged.

"He hasn't had training, though," Nya pointed out. "He should just take the ladder."

"There's a ladder?" Lloyd asked, looking around. Sure enough, a rope ladder was folded up next to the side of the deck. "There's a ladder! Why did you jump and risk getting hurt?"

"We're ninja," Kai said like it was obvious. "Plus, it's quicker."

"Quicker but more dangerous," Lloyd corrected, unfolding the ladder and attaching it to the deck's side wall. He climbed down as quickly as he could, but he had to admit, it did take him a lot longer than it had taken the three ninja to just jump off.

"More dangerous? I mean, I guess, but why are you worried about that?" Kai asked in confusion as Lloyd stepped off of the ladder.

"I'm not supposed to do dangerous things," Lloyd explained. "My mom and dad get worried. I'm their son, and-"

"And let me guess, they're worried their evil empire won't have an heir if you die?" Kai asked bluntly.

Lloyd frowned, more than a little confused. How had Kai come to that conclusion? "No. They're worried I'll get hurt. They love me, after all."

"Huh. I guess I didn't think they had it in them to love anybody, except maybe themselves," Kai pondered.

"Me neither," Nya admitted. "They've always been so mean to everybody, I didn't think they cared about anyone or anything at all, other than their dictatorship, I mean."

"No, they care," Lloyd said confidently, then he hesitated. "I mean, at least they say they care. And they act like they care."

"They act like they care about you," Cole pointed out. "But they also act like they care about their citizens, right? You thought they wanted to help Ninjago and keep it safe, so they must've acted like they cared at least a little."

Lloyd bit his lower lip. "Let's not talk about this. We're supposed to be getting supplies, so let's go get supplies and not talk about this."

"Oookay," Cole said slowly, but he turned and started walking away, which Lloyd counted as a success. Kai and Nya followed Cole, and Lloyd followed the three of them to a large walled-off area just a little ways away.

"There's the gate," Kai pointed out after a few moments of walking along the wall.

"And there's the identity lock," Nya added as they got close enough to see the large electronic lock on the gate.

"All right, Lloyd, it's up to you now," Cole stated.

Lloyd hesitated. "Are we sure this'll work?"

"Master Wu said it should, and Master Wu never lies," Cole affirmed. "Not include all the information? Maybe. But he never lies."

Raising his eyebrows, Lloyd muttered, "Not particularly reassuring."

Regardless, he walked up to the identity lock and looked it over. He'd seen his parents activate identity locks many times before, so Lloyd knew what he had to do. Holding his hand out under the scanner, Lloyd held his breath.

For a moment, nothing happened. Lloyd wondered what would happen if his uncle's information was wrong and Lloyd hadn't been put in the identity lock system yet. Would the lock just not open? Would the lock set off an alarm? Would-

Lloyd's worrying was interrupted by a loud click.

The identity lock had unlatched and the gate was now slightly ajar.

"Well done, Lloyd!" Kai crowed.

Nya and Cole shushed him in unison.

"We don't know if any of the people who live here are home," Nya hissed. "They could hear you! They could call the guards!"

"Oh, right. Well done, Lloyd," Kai whispered.

One by one, Kai, Nya, and Cole slipped through the gate. Lloyd hesitated only a moment before following them, deciding that if any guards did get called, he would be better off sticking close to the three ninja who had actually had ninja training.

Now inside the walls, Lloyd's eyes went wide at the sight of piles of trash, heaps of scraps, and absolute mounds of junk.

"All right, go for it," Cole whispered to Nya, who was looking around quickly.

Nya dashed off toward the nearest pile, Kai hot on her heels. The siblings started sifting through the trash, occasionally pulling out an item and setting it aside once Nya had fully examined it.

"So we just wait now?" Lloyd asked in a whisper.

Cole nodded, setting down the Ultimate Weapons chest and leaning back against the wall. "Yup. We let Nya do her thing and get all the parts we need for the mechs, then we get those parts onto the Destiny's Bounty and head for that island."

"What do you think we'll find on a little island in the Endless Sea?" Lloyd wondered.

"Master Wu said we'll find some plans that'll help us make crucial parts of our mechs, so I'm guessing we'll find some plans that'll help us make crucial parts of our mechs," Cole said dryly.

Lloyd frowned. "But he also said we might find something else. Like-"

Cole slapped a hand over Lloyd's mouth.

Indignantly, Lloyd pried Cole's hand away and asked loudly, "What did you do that for-"

Cole easily pulled his hand out of Lloyd's grip and covered Lloyd's mouth again. Cole whispered, "Listen."

Lloyd listened, and after a moment, he heard it too.

Footsteps.

Abandoning his lean against the wall in favor of dashing over to Kai and Nya, Cole hissed, "Guys! Someone's coming, we've gotta go!"

Kai and Nya straightened up and turned toward Cole, but it was too late.

A teenage boy came running around one of the junk piles and skidded to a stop. His mouth dropped open, and he stared at Kai, Nya, and Cole.

"Okay, this might look bad-" Cole began.

"Robbers!" The teenager yelped. He stepped backward hurriedly, stumbling over a pile of sheets of metal that Nya had set aside. He went down with a crash and a shriek.

Lloyd winced. That couldn't have felt good. On instinct, he hurried over to the teenager and leaned over him, putting out a hand. "Need a hand up?"

The teenager stared at him with wide eyes, then he squinted. His mouth dropped open again. "Lad Garmadon?"

Oh. Apparently a hoodie couldn't disguise Lloyd well enough.

From somewhere behind him, Lloyd could hear Kai mutter, "Well, this isn't going well."

Also from somewhere behind Lloyd, Nya and Cole shushed Kai again.

Ignoring the three ninja, Lloyd flipped the hood of his hoodie down. "Hi?"

"Hi," the teenager repeated, sounding terrified. "Um. Uh. Um. I don't- sorry for asking, Lad Garmadon, but why are you and three robbers in my parents' junkyard?"

Lloyd stared at him, searching for a good explanation and coming up at a loss. So he did the only thing he could do and told the teenager the truth. "Actually, they're rebels."

The teenager blinked up at him and repeated, "Rebels? The rebels need stuff from our junkyard? They're rebels?"

"Yeah. Well, the ninja in charge of the rebels, really," Lloyd explained, then he added, "I'm helping them."

The teenager's eyes practically popped out of his head in surprise. "You're helping the rebels?! Lad Garmadon, you, are helping the rebels! How'd that happen?"

"They kidnapped me and told me the truth about my parents being evil dictators," Lloyd said nonchalantly, trying not to give away that the truth still hurt.

"Oh. So, you're on the rebels' side?" The teenager asked slowly.

Lloyd nodded.

"So you're not going to let your parents do anything awful to me and my parents because you somehow got into our junkyard without them with you?" The teenager asked.

Lloyd frowned. "No? Of course not."

The teenager heaved a huge sigh. "Oh boy. Okay. Well, that's. That's good. Yeah, that's good. Okay then! Uh, could I have that hand up now?"

Still somewhat puzzled by the teenager's comment about Lloyd's parents doing something awful, Lloyd offered his hand to the teenager again.

The teenager took it and stood up. "Whew. Okay then. Well, do you and the rebels need any help finding anything?"

"What?" Lloyd asked.

"I mean, if you're here, and you're looking through our piles, obviously you need some scraps. Or junk. I mean, it's called 'Scrap n' Junk' for a reason, it's all scraps and junk here, so if you need help finding anything, I can help you," the teenager rambled.

Lloyd stared at him. "You're not scared of the rebels?"

The teenager shook his head. "Nah. I was pretty scared when I thought they were regular thieves, because regular thieves might do something bad to me, but rebels won't hurt me. They're are fighting to save Ninjago and all its people, you know?"

"I do know that now," Lloyd said slowly.

The teenager bounced in place a little. "Exactly. Uh, can I meet them? I've always wanted to meet some rebels. They're so cool."

"Sure?" Lloyd said hesitantly, looking toward Kai, Nya, and Cole, all of whom just shrugged at him, looking almost as confused as he was.

The teenager grinned and raced over to the three ninja. "Hi! I'm Jay. You guys are really cool. Like, so cool, I've made scrap-sculptures of what I thought you might look like, but then my parents made me take them apart, because if Lord and Lady Garmadon found sculptures of rebels, then they might fire me and anybody around me. Heh. I probably shouldn't have told you any of that. Oops."

"No, you're fine," Kai said, voice sounding strained, like he was barely keeping himself from laughing. "Keep going. It's fine."

Nya smacked him on the arm and turned to Jay. "You made scrap-sculptures? So you know something about building, and maybe inventing?"

"Oh, I love building and inventing," Jay enthused, "I'm all about making stuff. One time, I made a whole coffee machine out of scraps, and another time I made wings, but they didn't work too well. And this other time-"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cole interrupted him, looking at Nya.

"I think so," Nya stated, still looking at Jay. "Jay, right?"

"That's me," Jay chirped.

"Jay, how would you like to help the rebels defeat Lord and Lady Garmadon?" Nya asked.

Jay's mouth dropped open. He gasped, "Really?"

"Really. We're making some fighting mechs, so we need more people who can build and invent, and it's not too often we come across someone this enthusiastic about helping the cause," Nya stated. "What do you say?"

"Um, yeah! I say yeah!" Jay cheered. "Let me go leave a note for my parents, then I can come help you find any parts you need. I can be a big help, I promise."

"I'm sure you can," Cole agreed.

Jay beamed at them, then he turned on his heel and ran back the way he came, calling as he rounded a junk pile, "I'll be right back!"

Kai, Cole, Nya, and Lloyd stood in silence for a moment.

"That was unexpected," Lloyd said finally.

"Well, Master Wu did tell us we might find more than parts in the junkyard," Cole offered.

Kai finally started laughing, and through his laughter, choked out, "But you can't tell me you thought that meant we'd find somebody who wants to help us, and definitely somebody like that."

"No matter what he's like, I think he's going to help a lot," Nya stated. "Let's get back to looking for parts."

Reluctantly, Kai reined in his laughter and started helping Nya again, and Cole went back to leaning against the wall by the Ultimate Weapons chest.

Lloyd just stood where he'd ran to help Jay up for a few moments more, thinking about what Jay had said about Lord and Lady Garmadon doing awful things to people who let Lloyd go places without them. Slowly, he walked back over to the wall with Cole. Tentatively, he asked, "Cole? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Cole pointed out.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "I mean, something else."

"Sure," Cole agreed.

"Do my parents do bad things to people?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Cole said slowly. "Sorry, kid, but they fire people out of volcanoes, and they put guards everywhere, and they do all sorts of stuff to make people scared enough not to rebel against them. Not that it works against everybody, as you can see by that fact that we're ninja rebels ourselves, but it's still bad."

Lloyd thought about that for a while. It both made a lot of sense and didn't make any sense at all. In his mind, it made a lot of sense. Everyone had always acted scared of him, and it made sense that would be because his parents did awful things to make everyone scared of him and of them. But in his heart, it didn't make any sense at all. Lord and Lady Garmadon weren't just the lord and lady of Ninjago, they were Lloyd's parents. He loved them and didn't know if they could be evil, and they loved him in return. At least, he thought they loved him, or had caring about him been as much of a lie as caring about the citizens of Ninjago?

Lloyd kept pondering that for a long time while Kay and Nya, and Jay when he eventually returned from writing a note for his parents and had some brief introductions made, sorted through scraps to find parts for the ninjas' mechs. When it was time to go, however, he had to set the thought aside for a while and help get ready to go.

"You got that, Lloyd?" Nya asked.

"I've got it," Lloyd managed, stumbling back for a moment under the weight of his boxes of scraps. He regained his footing and started for the gate which Kai and Cole had already brought their loads out through on the way to the Destiny's Bounty.

Behind him, Lloyd heard Nya ask Jay, "Can you take these boxes?"

"Yeah!" Jay enthused from somewhere behind Lloyd, then stammered, "Whoa, whoa, hey- ack!"

At the sound of a crash, Lloyd turned around to see Jay splayed across the ground by the wall, the Ultimate Weapons chest tipped over next to him and the weapons spilled over the ground along with several boxes of scraps.

"Sorry, I tripped over your box of, uh, weird stuff," Jay apologized immediately when he saw Lloyd looking. "None of it is broken! I hope. Uhhh…"

"Yeah, none of it looks broken," Lloyd stated, looking over the Ultimate Weapons scattered across the ground.

"This one's not broken, and this one's not broken," Jay rambled, picking up Ultimate Weapons and putting them back in the chest, which he put upright again, "and this one's not broken, and this one's- oh!"

Lloyd, having turned to pick up a few Ultimate Weapons himself, turned back quickly.

Jay was staring down at a jagged blue Ultimate Weapon in his hands.

Normally, Lloyd might have stared at the Ultimate Weapon on Jay's hands too. It was flickering with light, and little pinpricks of electricity were popping off of it. But no, Lloyd didn't stare at the Ultimate Weapon, because Lloyd was too busy staring at Jay.

Jay's whole body was giving off sparks.

"Jay!" Lloyd exclaimed, putting together the pieces of what might be happening, then he called, "Nya, come over here! Look!"

Nya, who had been stacking up boxes of scraps busily, looked up. Immediately, she ran over. "Jay! You've got elemental powers!"

"Is that what this is?" Jay asked nervously. "I thought I might be dying. You know, touch a magical artifact the wrong way, give off sparks, keel over, and die, that kind of thing."

"No, Jay, you've got elemental powers," Nya repeated.

"What does that mean?" Jay asked, not taking his eyes off of the Ultimate Weapon gripped tightly in his hands.

"It means you've really got to come help us now," Nya stated definitively. "It means you're going to be a ninja."


	9. Just because you're different

"Looks like we've got our fifth ninja," Cole stated simply when Nya explained what had happened as she, Jay, and Lloyd brought the last boxes of scraps aboard the Destiny's Bounty.

"Huh. Well, congrats, dude," Kai told Jay. "Welcome to the team."

Jay shifted from one foot to the other. "Heh. Thanks, I guess. You're sure I'm supposed to be a ninja?"

"Nya said the Ultimate Weapon of Lightning reacted to you, and Nya knows what she's talking about. So yeah, you're supposed to be a ninja," Kai said confidently, giving Jay a heavy pat on the back.

Jay still looked uncertain, but he managed a shaky grin. "Cool. What do ninjas do, then?"

"Well, right now we're gathering parts and blueprints to help build our mechs," Nya explained.

"Then we'll train with our elemental powers and mechs to get ready to face Lord and Lady Garmadon," Cole added.

"Then we'll face them and win and help everybody and be heroes," Kai finished, spreading his arms wide in satisfaction.

Jay nodded thoughtfully. "Where else do you need to go to get parts and blueprints? I know all the best junkyards around, I can offer advice on where to go for parts if you need it."

"Thanks, but I think we've got all the parts we should need for now," Nya speculated. "Really, what's left before we start building is getting a couple blueprints for specific mechanisms on the mechs, and Master Wu told us where to go to get those."

"Master Wu?" Jay repeated.

"He's in charge all of the rebels," Lloyd explained, glad to be one of the ones in the know at least for now.

"Yeah, he's in charge of every rebel, including us. And he knows basically everything, or at least it seems like that," Nya said with a laugh.

"So he said where to get the blueprints, where is that?" Jay asked.

Nya hesitated. "Uh. Some tiny island in the Endless Sea. Don't ask why, because I don't know."

Jay frowned, but, as Nya requested, didn't ask why.

"I'm going to go set in the course for there," Nya explained, turning and heading off the deck, calling behind her, "We should probably get Jay and Lloyd settled in at some point!"

"Kai and I can do that now!" Cole yelled after her. He turned in Lloyd and Jay's direction and nodded at them. "Come on, I don't think we've shown you our bedroom yet, Lloyd, and we definitely haven't shown you anything, Jay."

Cole gave them a brief tour of the Destiny's Bounty, with Kai interjecting his explanations now and then and Jay asking for more about every bit of information he was given. Lloyd trailed slightly behind, kind of paying attention but also kind of lost in thought. Jay was going to be a ninja, so there was only one ninja left to find. That made the confrontation with Lloyd's parents seem so much closer, even though it was still scheduled for the same time as far as Lloyd knew. He had kind of hoped they wouldn't find the last two ninja for a long time so they would have to postpone whatever Wu had planned for confronting Lloyd's parents. Lloyd still hoped that it would take a while to find the last ninja, but a sinking feeling had him convinced it wouldn't take long at all.

The tour concluded in the ninjas' bedroom, a large room with six beds spread out around it. Three of the beds had various possessions gathered around and under and on them, while the other three didn't, but each of six was a single color, a different color for each bed.

"The black one's mine, obviously. The red one's Kai's, the silver one's Nya's, Lloyd gets the green one because he's the prophesied Green Ninja, and Jay, I think Master Wu said lightning's ninja was going to be blue, so blue's yours," Cole explained, pointing at the various beds in turn.

Kai flopped down on the red bed and reclined, propping his head up on his hand. "Which means white is the last one."

"So there'll be six ninja total?" Jay asked.

"Uh-huh. Earth, fire, water, energy, lightning, and, let's see, ice, right?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, ice," Cole agreed. "Don't know how we're going to find them, though. I'll bet Master Wu knows."

"What do you think Master Wu knows?" Nya asked, walking into the bedroom.

"Where to find the sixth ninja," Cole told her.

"The course is all set?" Kai asked her, sitting up on his bed.

"No, Kai, I left the ship's computer undecided and we're going to crash because I didn't set a course," Nya teased.

Cole chuckled, and after a moment, Jay and Lloyd did too.

Pouting heavily, Kai flung a pillow at Nya.

Nya caught the pillow easily and grinned over it at her brother. "You didn't think you could throw fast enough to trick my ninja reflexes, did you?"

"Not really," Kai admitted, laughing. "So, if the course is set, you know how long it's going to take us to get there."

"Yeah. It'll be a good couple of hours," Nya stated. "What do you guys want to do while we wait? Normally we train with our elemental powers, but Lloyd and Jay, you haven't received any training from Master Wu on how to use yours, so that's a bad idea. What should we do instead?"

"Video games," Kai offered. "We haven't played much lately with how much time we spent planning on how to kidnap Lloyd."

"Sounds good to me," Nya commented. "Were you thinking 'Fist to Face 2' or 'Sitar Legend?'"

Jay's face lit up. "You have the new 'Fist to Face' game?"

Nya grinned. "Sure do. Want to try it?"

"Yeah!" Jay enthused. "I haven't got a chance to play it or even get it yet."

More than a little confused, Lloyd frowned. "How have you not been able to even get it?"

"Uh, because it's only been out for like a week," Jay said, as if that made everything make sense.

"Yeah, so? A week is way more than enough time for your parents to get you a video game," Lloyd explained, still not understanding.

Jay's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked to Nya, Kai, and Cole.

"Not everyone has Ninjago's dictators for parents, Lloyd," Nya said simply, jumping into the conversation. "There are a lot of people who have a hard enough time just getting the basics since there's not enough to go around, and even for people who have the money to get video games and fun stuff like that, there's no guarantee on there being enough of those to go around either. The only reason even we have a lot of the stuff we have is because Master Wu has connections. Most people are a lot worse off."

Lloyd swallowed hard. "Oh. Right."

"Anywayyyy," Kai said, dragging out the word in the awkwardness until everyone looked at him. "'Fist to Face 2' tournament, anyone?"

Cole nodded. "I'm in."

"Me too," Nya agreed.

"First one there gets first pick of characters!" Kai said hurriedly, and he jumped off of his bed and ran out the door.

"No fair!" Nya yelled, and she and Cole raced after him.

Lloyd looked at Jay, kind of wanting to apologize, but not being sure how or whether it would just make things more awkward.

Jay looked back at Lloyd. "Uh, do you remember where the video game stuff is? I'm pretty sure I don't."

"I think I remember," Lloyd said, glad to be able to help. He led Jay to the room he recalled seeing a TV and a gaming system in before. Nya, Kai, and Cole were already in there pulling out controllers when Lloyd and Jay walked in.

"Here, Jay, you haven't played before, you should be one of the ones playing the first round," Nya concluded, holding out a controller, which Jay took.

"And Lloyd, you haven't played with us before, you can have one too," Cole offered, holding another controller out to Lloyd.

Lloyd pushed the controller back to him. "I can watch for the first round, it's good."

"Are you sure?" Cole checked.

Lloyd nodded.

"Okay, cool. Kai, Nya, Jay, and I for the first round, then," Cole declared.

They played a first round, and a second, and a third and a fourth and a fifth and many more, switching out who didn't have a controller every time. An hour passed, then another, then another, and sooner than Lloyd would've thought it possible, Nya looked at the clock and announced, "We should be getting to the island any minute now. I'm going to go to the control bridge."

"I'll go with you," Kai offered, putting down his controller.

"We can all go," Cole decided, standing to turn off the TV and gaming system.

The five of them filed down the hall and up the stairs to the control bridge, where Nya checked a few instruments and steered the ship to a stop before announcing, "We're here!"

"And here is a random itty-bitty island in the middle of the Endless Sea where, for some reason, we're supposed to be able to find blueprints for our mechs," Kai sighed. He stretched lazily. "Okay, then. Let's do this."

"What, exactly, are we doing?" Jay wondered.

"Looking for blueprints, I guess," Lloyd offered.

"Yup," Cole affirmed, picking up the chest of Ultimate Weapons. "So let's go."

The five ninja filed out of the control bridge and onto the deck, looking around. Lloyd didn't have much experience with islands, but he figured this one had to be way on the small side. It was just big enough to hold a single lighthouse that stretched several stories into the sky and then hold pretty much nothing else.

"I bet that's some kind of abandoned lighthouse that used to be a place for inventors to store their blueprints," Nya said thoughtfully.

"I'll take that bet," Kai said eagerly.

Nya laughed. "Cool. If it's anything like I think it is, you owe me a week of chores."

"Deal," Kai agreed, and with that he flipped over the side of the deck and landed on the island, shouting to the others still standing on the deck, "Come on!"

"Uh, am I supposed to know how to do that?" Jay asked, watching with wide eyes as Nya and Cole both jumped over the side of the Destiny's Bounty.

"Don't worry, there's a ladder," Lloyd explained, glad he wouldn't be the only one not jumping right off.

Moments later, both Jay and Lloyd had climbed down the ladder and joined the other three on the island. The five ninja headed right for the lighthouse.

Cole made it there first. He reached out for the door handle, then he pulled his hand back quickly. "Identity lock! Lloyd, you're up."

"An identity lock? Doesn't sound abandoned to me," Kai teased Nya.

"We'll have to wait and see," Nya stated.

Lloyd made it to the door and held his hand under the scanner. After a moment, there was a soft click and the door swung open.

Immediately, the sounds of bits of metal clanging against each other and scraping past each other were loudly audible coming from somewhere inside the lighthouse.

"That also doesn't sound abandoned to me," Kai noted.

"Wait and see," Nya reminded him.

"I'll be down in a moment!" A voice yelped, also coming from somewhere inside the lighthouse.

"It's not abandoned," Kai said in sing-songy voice.

Nya sighed. "Fine. You win this time."

Kai pumped his fist through the air. "Yes!"

"But if it's not abandoned, who lives here?" Jay wondered.

"We're about to find out," Cole announced, and he stepped past Lloyd and into the lighthouse.

Lloyd and the other three followed him, looking around. The walls of the lighthouse were covered in blueprints, and the floor was equally covered in bits and pieces of metal and wiring and various other mechanical parts. A spiral staircase led the five ninja up through several floors, each filled with blueprints and assorted scraps, and finally let them out into a open space at the top of the lighthouse.

In that open space, a white-haired man was facing away from them. He was sorting through a pile of papers, mumbling to himself, "Where is it, where is it, where is it…"

"Hello?" Lloyd said.

The man jumped and whirled around, his eyes wide behind the frames of his glasses. "Oh my!"

"Hello," Lloyd said again, smiling in an attempt to calm down the nervous-looking man. "I'm Lloyd Garmadon. Who are you?"

"You're Lad Garmadon," the man stated, looking taken aback. He squinted at Lloyd, then beyond Lloyd, and his eyes widened even further, if that was possible. "And who are your friends?"

"We're ninja!" Jay piped up proudly. "Or, well, ninja-in-training for some of us."

"Lad Garmadon, together with the ninja," the man marvelled. He shook his head. "I never thought I'd live to see the day. Are you working with them, Lad Garmadon?"

Lloyd nodded. "I'm helping them."

"You're helping them. Fascinating!" The man stated. "Are you going to help them find the Green Ninja?"

"No, he is the Green Ninja," Kai interjected.

The man actually laughed at loud at that. "Lad Garmadon, the Green Ninja! Amazing! Well, ninja, what can I do for you?"

"You can answer Lloyd's question," Cole suggested. "Who are you?"

"Why, I'm the Tinkerer, of course. Lord and Lady Garmadon keep me captive on this island so that I'll make them inventions to keep Ninjago under their control," the man explained as if it was completely obvious.

"My parents trapped you here?" Lloyd asked.

The man - the Tinkerer - bobbed his head in a nod. "Indeed they did."

Here was yet another cruel thing Lloyd's parents had done, as if Lloyd's faith in them hadn't been broken down enough. Lloyd frowned. "Well, you don't have to be captive anymore. You can come with us. You can be free."

The Tinkerer shook his head. "Actually, I probably should stay here, Lad Garmadon. Your parents made a plan to come get some new blueprints from me tomorrow. I thought you were them coming early. If they arrive tomorrow and they see I'm not here, they'll know someone bypassed the identity lock. I'm assuming you're keeping it a secret that you're working as a ninja?"

"Yes, the element of surprise is part of our plan," Nya chimed in.

"Then I'd better stay here, so as not to mess up your plan," the Tinkerer said. He smiled then, a wide grin that took Lloyd aback. "But I know someone who doesn't need to stay here."

"There's someone here with you?" Lloyd asked. How many people did his parents keep captive?

"Yes, yes, and he'll be very excited to meet you and get out of here. He's never met anyone or gone anywhere, after all," the Tinkerer said with a laugh.

The ninja exchanged confused looks for several moments as the Tinkerer hurried across the room to a large wardrobe. The Tinkerer knocked three times on the door to the wardrobe, then he called, "You can come out now, Zane!"

The wardrobe door creaked open, and a teenage boy stepped out, looking at Lloyd and the other ninja with wide eyes that almost seemed to glow. He said politely, "Greetings."

"Zane, these are the ninja, they're going to save all of Ninjago. Ninja, this is Zane, my son and creation," the Tinkerer said happily, patting the teenage boy on the shoulder.

"Creation?" Jay repeated.

"I am an android," Zane said simply.

Lloyd felt his eyebrows shoot up as far as they could go. He looked at the Tinkerer, more than a little at a loss.

"Yes, Zane is an android. When your parents first locked me away, Lad Garmadon, I was very lonely. So I started working on a companion," the Tinkerer explained, looking at Zane fondly. "Over time, one thing led to another, and now Zane's my son and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And you want us to take him with us?" Lloyd asked, confused. "And leave you here alone again?"

The Tinkerer nodded. "Yes, yes, and not just for Zane's sake, but for Ninjago's sake as well. You see, I believe he is destined to become a ninja."

"In addition to being his companion, Father built me to protect those who cannot protect themselves. My power source assists me in that, and assists my father in believing I am meant to be a ninja, as it is concentrated elemental energy, specifically from experiments done by the former Master of Ice," Zane continued.

Kai made a "huh" sound. "Master Wu did say the last ninja was supposed to be the Master of Ice."

"Well, we won't know unless we try," Nya offered, and she looked to Cole, who was already fishing through the box of Ultimate Weapons.

"Here's the Ice Ultimate Weapon," Cole announced, pulling out what seemed to be a large crystal from the chest. He looked Zane up and down, warning, "If this works, it's going to be kind of weird."

"He's used to weird," the Tinkerer said conversationally.

Zane nodded to Cole and held out his hands.

Gently, Cole placed the Ice Ultimate Weapon in Zane's hands.

Lloyd stared closely at the Ice Ultimate Weapon, hoping to see another cool, bizarre thing like what had happened to him and Jay.

He was not disappointed.

Almost immediately, icicles began forming on Zane, spiraling down off of his hands and arms. The temperature in the room dropped significantly, and a light frost emanated out from Zane's feet, covering the ground and creeping up the walls.

The Tinkerer laughed out loud. "That's my boy!"

"So cool!" Jay exclaimed in awe, then he shivered dramatically. "Literally! Uh, Zane, could you put that thing down so the room temperature can go back up?"

"Of course," Zane said politely, passing the Ice Ultimate Weapon back to Cole. As he did so, the icicles and frost vanished like they'd never been there in the first place, and the temperature in the lighthouse rose once more.

"Everyone, I give you our sixth ninja, the Master of Ice," Cole stated with a grin. "Welcome to the team, Zane."


	10. The power that we never knew we had

"And that's basically what's going to happen," Kai finished the retelling of what was planned to go down on the day of the revolution once they'd gotten the blueprints from the Tinkerer, said goodbye, and were back on the Destiny's Bounty and in the air.

"It's going to be pretty awesome," Cole stated.

Lloyd tried not to frown as the other five ninja smiled at each other. Sure, it might be awesome for them. They didn't have to worry about fighting their parents.

"Indeed," Wu chimed in.

Lloyd and Jay jumped and whirled to face Wu. Zane didn't jump so much as tilt his head to one side quizzically as he turned to face Wu, and Nya, Kai, and Cole didn't even flinch.

"How long have you been here?" Jay demanded wildly.

Wu gave a mysterious smile. "Long enough. It would appear the two final ninja have been found, hmmm?"

"Uh-huh. Master Wu, this is Jay, Master of Lightning, and Zane, Master of Lightning. Jay, Zane, this is Master Wu," Nya introduced.

Wu did a little half-bow. "A pleasure."

"Whoa, this is the Master Wu who's leading the revolution?" Jay gasped.

"The one and only," Kai said with a laugh.

"And these are the ninja who will help with the revolution," Wu stated, sweeping his hand to gesture to the six of them, including Jay, Zane, and Lloyd himself. "Although in those clothes, I doubt anyone will believe you three are ninja."

Lloyd glanced over himself, Jay, and Zane. Jay was in grease-stained overalls and a ratty t-shirt, Zane wore pure white pants and a matching long-sleeved shirt, and Lloyd was still wearing Kai's jeans and Cole's hoodie. It was true; they didn't look like ninja at all, much unlike Kai, Cole, and Nya in their color-coded uniforms.

"Come, all of you," Wu commanded, and he turned and walked out of the room without another word.

Wu led them to a little closet off of the main hallway, where he pulled out three thin boxes. "This one is Jay's, this one Zane's, and this one is yours, Lloyd. Go try them on, then meet us in the largest training room."

A few minutes later, the three new ninja were all clothed in their new uniforms and were walking down the hall, looking for the training room Wu had mentioned.

"I've got to admit, I love my new ninja suit," Jay bragged, pausing in his walking to do a little spin in place. "I mean, it's so awesome!"

"And the material is very light and breathable," Zane added happily.

"Yeah, I guess they're kind of cool," Lloyd hedged.

Pausing, Zane looked at Lloyd. "Are you not excited to be given such an outfit?"

"I'm excited!" Lloyd defended, stopping in his walking as well.

"You don't sound excited," Jay said doubtfully. "You sound, you sound, I don't know, but you don't sound excited."

"I believe he sounds more apprehensive," Zane offered.

"Why?" Jay asked, looking at Lloyd.

Lloyd squirmed under the two gazes. "I mean, it's cool to be a ninja, and it's cool to have elemental powers, and it's even cool that I'm going to get to save the world, but I wish it didn't have to be the way that it is, you know?"

Jay and Zane looked confused.

"Because, you know. Of who I'm saving the world from," Lloyd said, voice getting quieter and quieter as he spoke until he was mumbling the end of the sentence.

"Lord and Lady Garmadon?" Jay asked in confusion, then realization dawned on his face, his mouth dropping open. "Oooh. Because they're not just Lord and Lady Garmadon to you, are they?"

"They are your parents, and you do not wish to fight them," Zane put together, nodding. "That is understandable."

"Yeah, I can't imagine fighting my parents," Jay sympathized.

"I don't have to imagine it. I'm going to live it," Lloyd stated gloomily.

Jay and Zane traded concerned glances.

A few doors down the hall, Kai peeked out from a doorway. "C'mon, guys! We've been waiting for what feels like forever!"

"It's been like five minutes, Kai," Nya's voice came from inside the room.

"But five minutes can feel like forever," Kai retorted. He waved Lloyd, Jay, and Zane forward and into the training room before sitting on the floor beside Cole and Nya. After a moment's hesitation, Lloyd, Jay, and Zane did the same.

"Now, as ninja and Elemental Masters, you will likely use a combination of your elemental powers and your mechs in the confrontation against Lord and Lady Garmadon and their armies," Wu lectured. "Nya has much of the mechs already ready, and now that you've gathered more parts and blueprints, we can finish with those. However, just as important is your elemental powers. Kai, Cole, Nya, please stand and demonstrate your powers."

"Yes, Master," the three original ninja chimed together, standing and walking to the front of the room. They stood with feet slightly apart, hands held in front of their chests, obviously waiting for some kind of signal.

Wu bustled around, setting up a few boxes and dummies around them. Then he stood back by Lloyd and commanded, "Earth!"

"Earth!" Cole yelled back, and he slammed his hands together in front of his chest. Immediately a shockwave burst from his hands, visibly distorting the air as it rippled quickly out, knocking over all of the boxes and dummies and dissipating just before it reached Wu.

"Fire!" Wu ordered.

"Fi-yah!" Kai crowed, and he swept a leg in front of himself as he pushed his hands out to the sides. Immediately a wave of fire bellowed from both of his hands, rushing upon the boxes and dummies and setting them ablaze.

"Water!" Wu called.

"Water!" Nya shouted, and she thrust both hands up into the air. Immediately a strong rain fell from the ceiling onto the flaming boxes and dummies, soaking them and putting out the fires.

"And reset," Wu ordered.

"Reset," the three original ninja repeated. Cole and Kai got back into their original positions quickly, and Nya slowly pulled her hands down to her torso again, causing the rain to stop and all the water to flow to her and disappear.

Even having seen a display of the three original ninja's powers before, it was impressive. Lloyd glanced at Jay and Zane. Jay's eyes were huge, his mouth was curved in an enormous grin, and his hands were clenched in excited fists in front of his chest. Zane looked a little more calm, but he was grinning too.

"That. Was. Awesome," Jay breathed.

"Quite impressive!" Zane chimed in.

"It was really cool," Lloyd agreed.

Jay fidgeted in his seat, raising a hand. "Oh, oh!"

"Yes, Jay?" Wu asked.

"How long's it going to take for me to learn how to do stuff like that?" Jay asked eagerly.

"You have the next seven days to learn how to do it as best you can," Wu answered. "I believe you will be able to do something quite similar by the end of it."

Jay's grin widened. "Super sweet. When do we start?"

"Right now," Wu replied. "Kai, fire and lightning run on similar principles. You will train Jay. Nya, water and ice are two sides of one coin. You will train Zane. Cole, earth and energy have their differences, but they are very alike. You will train Lloyd. I will go back and forth between the three pairs, observing and giving help when needed. Go!"

"This'll be fun," Cole remarked, approaching Lloyd and offering him a hand up.

"Right, fun," Lloyd echoed, trying to sound enthusiastic as he took Cole's hand and pulled himself to a standing position. "This'll be fun."

It wasn't fun.

"How come I'm having this much trouble with it?" Lloyd asked Wu despairingly a while later, gesturing across the room to the other two pairs. "Jay's got lightning bolts jumping back and forth between his hands already, and Zane's been making icicles practically this whole time. Why I am the only one who's struggling?"

Wu smiled. "Because you are not truly trying?"

"I'm trying!" Lloyd objected. "Cole, tell him how much I've been trying."

"It's looked like he's been trying," Cole offered.

"Really?" Wu asked. "Lloyd, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about how much I'm trying to do this," Lloyd grumbled.

"I think not. I think you are thinking about how much you want to be doing anything other than this," Wu said gravely.

Lloyd frowned. "No I'm not."

"So if I said, what do you really want to be doing right now, you would have no other answer for me than this?" Wu asked.

Lloyd tried to nod, but he couldn't. His mind was too caught up in all the other things he'd rather be doing. He'd rather be playing video games with the other ninja. He'd rather be learning something new at school. He'd rather be home with his parents, not thinking about having to defeat them.

Wu nodded, looking at Lloyd. "I see. You are not struggling with using your powers. You are struggling with what you will end up using your powers for."

Cole made a soft "oooh" sound. "Lloyd, are you still worried about fighting your parents?"

"I mean, yeah. Of course I am. Wouldn't you be?" Lloyd challenged.

Cole frowned. "Probably, yeah."

"Lloyd, you cannot focus on the future. The future will come when it comes, and we will meet it when it does. All you can focus on is what you're doing in the present," Wu stated.

"But how am I supposed to focus on the present when everything about the present leads to the future?" Lloyd wondered.

"It's a delicate balance to be sure, but it's one I am sure you can master," Wu comforted. "Now, let's try this again, but a little differently."

"Differently?" Lloyd repeated.

"Don't think of fighting your parents. But don't think about using your powers either, and don't avoid thinking about your parents completely. Instead, think of the moment you first realized your parents needed someone to stop them. Don't think about that someone being you. Just think that they need to be stopped," Wu encouraged. "Now, close your eyes."

Begrudgingly, Lloyd closed his eyes.

"Listen to my voice," Wu stated. "Think of your parents, of the things you've seen them do that you now realize weren't in Ninjago's best interests."

"The firing," Lloyd muttered.

"Exactly," Wu agreed. "Now, think of the power it'll take for them to be stopped, the teamwork, the determination, the energy. Concentrate on that."

Lloyd concentrated. He felt something sharp and striking warming up behind his eyes and deep within his chest. "I feel… Warm."

"Hold onto that warmth," Wu directed. "Focus on it. Direct it all to one place. How about into your hands?"

"It's moving," Lloyd reported, almost opening his eyes in surprise but barely managing to keep them shut. "It's really warm now, almost hot. It's all in my hands now."

"Now, when you're ready, open your eyes and quickly push your hands out in front of you," Wu ordered.

Lloyd took a deep breath, then he let it out. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Do it," Wu commanded.

Eyes flaring open, Lloyd thrust his hands out in front of him.

A burst of green-gold light flew out of his hands. It spun across the room, right into one of the boxes Wu had used for demonstrating Kai, Nya, and Cole's powers. The box glowed for a brief moment.

Then it exploded.

"Yikes!" Jay, who had been closest to the box, hollered shrilly, jumping back to avoid bits of box. "What was that?"

"That was Lloyd," Cole said with a grin. "Good job, Lloyd!"

"Congratulations," Zane called over.

"Woo-hoo, that's our Green Ninja!" Kai exclaimed.

"Now he just needs to learn to control it a little more, and he'll be all ready," Nya remarked. "That's great!"

"Yeah. Great," Lloyd repeated, half-believing it.

Because, in a way, it was great.

And in a way, it wasn't.


	11. With good friends you can save the world

Between training on elemental powers, working on the mechs, and just hanging out, the days sped by quickly. Before Lloyd had even noticed, and long before he would've wished, it was the morning before the day the revolution was planned and he and the other ninja were sitting at the breakfast table, discussing the next day.

"Tomorrow's the big day," Kai stated. "And you know, I think we're more than ready."

"The mechs just need some last-minute fine-tuning and they'll be ready too," Jay commented.

"And our elemental powers are all at their peaks," Cole remarked. "Jay, Zane, Lloyd, you've done great work in such a short amount of time."

"And Cole, Nya, and Kai, you have been great teachers," Zane added.

"Aw, you'll make us blush," Nya dismissed with a grin.

"We're going to rock it tomorrow," Kai concluded. "All we need to do is make sure everyone who's rebelling with us knows what they're doing, and we'll be all set."

"That's what I want to talk to you about," Wu said, materializing beside Kai.

None of the ninja even twitched at his sudden appearance.

"Hey, Master," Cole greeted.

"What do you mean that's what you want to talk to us about?" Lloyd asked in concern, getting to the point.

"I mean what I mean, which is that you have a special mission for today," Wu explained.

"Oooh, a special mission?" Jay asked.

Wu nodded slightly. "You will be spreading information and checking on our supporters to make sure all those who plan to join the revolution understand their parts in the plan."

Kai grinned. "Oh, I love checking on our supporters. A lot of them are pretty cool. Tox, Karlof, Neuro… Hey, Nya, you remember Skylor, that girl who helped us beat up that huge group of snakes?"

"I definitely remember. Is she on our list of people to check on?" Nya asked.

"Everyone we have been helped by is on the list," Wu answered.

"Sweet, that'll be fun," Nya stated, then she paused. "That'll be a lot of people, though. Are we going to have time to check on all of them?"

"You will, but you will split up to do so into a team of three and a team of two," Wu explained.

The ninja were silent for a moment, exchanging looks.

"That only adds up to five," Kai said slowly.

"I know," Wu stated.

"There are six of us," Jay offered helpfully.

Wu nodded. "Yes, I can count and have realized that."

"So there are six of us and you only listed five who are going to go check on our supporters. So what gives?" Cole questioned.

"Lloyd will not be going on the mission to check on the other rebels," Wu answered.

Lloyd frowned. Huh? "I won't be?"

"You will not be," Wu confirmed.

"Why not?" Lloyd asked.

"I have some things I wish to speak with you about," Wu explained.

Lloyd glanced at the other ninja. They looked about as confused as he felt, eyebrows furrowed and lips downturned. However, none of them protested, not even Lloyd himself. Instead, Lloyd stated, "If you say so."

As soon as breakfast was over, Wu split the other five ninja into two teams, one of Kai and Zane, the other of Cole, Jay, and Nya. Each team got a list of people to check on as well as a stack of pamphlets to distribute with the final information about the revolution, and then, in a flurry of goodbyes, they were off.

Lloyd watched from the deck of the Destiny's Bounty as the other ninja disappeared from sight, then he turned to Wu. "So. You wanted to talk with me?"

Wu nodded, stroking his beard. "Lloyd, you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Well, yeah, but we all do," Lloyd tried to dismiss it.

"You do especially. How are you doing?" Wu inquired.

"My elemental power is fully under control, and I know how I'm going to use my mech," Lloyd hedged.

Wu shook his head. "No. How are you doing?"

"...Not great. I mean, I'm going to be fighting my parents. My mom and dad! I don't want to, but I have to if Ninjago is going to be saved," Lloyd admitted.

"Maybe, maybe not," Wu said mysteriously.

Lloyd frowned. "Uh, not 'maybe, maybe not.' It's a certainty. There's a prophecy about it and everything, remember? I have to fight them."

"You have to defeat them," Wu corrected. "That does not always mean fighting."

"Huh?" Lloyd voiced.

"Nephew, you are in a very unique position. It is a very special thing to be the Green Ninja. But, even more unique is your family position as the child of the rulers. It is more than just 'very special' to be the son of Garmadon. In fact, it may be the very key to your parents' defeat," Wu explained.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd wondered.

Wu simply smiled and walked away, calling over his shoulder, "Think carefully about who you are. You have a free day. Use it."

"Think carefully about who I am," Lloyd repeated to himself. "Who I am? Who am I?

He wandered the decks of the Destiny's Bounty, thinking about that question. Eventually, he found himself standing in the training room, facing down a training dummy.

"Who am I?" Lloyd asked the dummy.

The dummy did not respond.

"I mean, I'm Lloyd Garmadon. People call me Lad Garmadon, but I don't think that's a good thing. I think that's a 'everyone is scared to death of my parents and shouldn't have to be' thing, which is a bad thing," Lloyd speculated. "But I'm not just Lloyd Garmadon. I'm the Green Ninja, and that means I have to fight. At least, I thought it did. That's what it means, right?"

Again, the dummy said nothing.

"Right," Lloyd told himself. "Being the Green Ninja takes priority over being Lloyd Garmadon. Ninjago takes priority over me and my parents. That's how it is. That's just how it has to be."

With that, Lloyd threw himself into training. But no matter how hard he punched and kicked, no matter how many dummies he beat up and boxes he broke, no matter how many times he used his energy power, he couldn't distract himself from Wu's remarks. Was there a way to defeat his parents without fighting? There couldn't be. Could there be? No, there couldn't be, there just couldn't be.

Time flew by, even while taking breaks from training, and before Lloyd knew it, it was time for supper. When he walked into the dining room, the other five ninja were already there, enthusiastically jabbering back and forth about their days. Lloyd joined the conversation, remarking on the encounters the others had experienced during the day and evading questions about how he had spent his day. All the while, Wu's statements spun around and around in his mind, from having supper to playing video games all the way to lying in bed with the lights off and the others' breathing deeply in the grasp of sleep.

Wu had said being the Green Ninja was special, but that being the son of Ninjago's rulers was even more special. What could that mean? Lloyd thought about it until his eyes closed and he started slipping into rest. However, even with how busy his mind was trying to decipher Wu's comments, Lloyd's last thought before sleep claimed him completely was of his parents, as it had been every night he had been aboard the Destiny's Bounty.

He missed them.

He loved them.

He was going to have to fight them.


	12. But yeah we're still family

**AN: Here's the climax of the story! It may not go the way you're expecting it to go. There'll be one more chapter after this of wrapping things up. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"This is it!" Kai crowed, hopping from the deck of the Destiny's Bounty up into his mech. "This is it, this is it!"

"Remember, the rebels are already hard at work fighting off the guards everywhere they can, and I'll be continuing coordinating their attacks from here, so all you need to do is complete your jobs," Wu lectured as the ninja got comfortable in their mechs. "Cole, Kai, Nya, Jay, Zane, your job is to get Lloyd into the palace and keep the snakes, sharks, and skeletons away so Lloyd can do his job. And Lloyd, your job is to-"

"Fight my parents," Lloyd sighed, getting as comfortable as he could get in his own mech. "I know."

"Your job is to defeat your parents," Wu corrected. "Remember that."

"Defeat. Right," Lloyd echoed.

Wu nodded. "All right. Are you all ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lloyd muttered. He hadn't thought Wu could've heard it under the chorus of "Ready!" that the other ninja were yelling, but from the raised eyebrows Wu gave him, Lloyd might have thought wrong.

"Well then. Ninja? Go!" Wu commanded.

"Woo-hoo!" Kai howled, and he took his mech right over the side of the Destiny's Bounty, which was hovering a little ways above Ninjago City a few streets away from the palace, which was as close they could get without possibly alerting the guards at the palace.

Nya followed him in her mech, then Jay, then Cole, then Zane. Soon, only Lloyd was left on the deck of the Destiny's Bounty.

"Here I go," Lloyd told himself, taking a deep breath. "Here I go!"

He flew his dragon-shaped mech off of the Destiny's Bounty and down the streets, following the other ninja as they headed straight for the palace. Citizens cheered and gasped and screamed as the six of them made their way through the streets, some of the citizens seeming surprised, others seeming expectant, but all of them appearing absolutely thrilled that the ninja were there. Apparently the other ninja had spread the word about the rebellion pretty well.

Sooner than Lloyd would've liked, the six ninja in their mechs were at the huge front doors of the palace. Jay fired a few shots from his plane-like mech at the doors, which cracked under the barrage, then Cole revved up his tank-like mech and crashed right through the doors.

"Our intel said Lord and Lady Garmadon would retreat to the throne room to manage their troops from there in case of an attack," Nya reminded everyone as they entered the palace.

"Throne room, here we come!" Kai hollered gleefully, charging down the halls.

Servants stood in awe against the walls, watching as the mechs made their way through the palace. Many of them waved or grinned at the ninja, shouting encouragements. It was amazing to Lloyd how happy the servants seemed, much happier then they had ever been around him before. None of them knew who he was right now, given he was in his mech with his ninja hood up, and they were just automatically happier without the pressure of having to please "Lad Garmadon" so they wouldn't have to risk being fired out of a volcano. Granted, most of their happiness probably had more to do with realizing someone was fighting against Lord and Lady Garmadon than with the presence or absence of Lloyd himself, but still.

Kai and Nya, who were in front leading the group forward, halted their mechs in front of a pair of large doors.

"This is it, right? The Throne Room," Kai asked the rest of the ninja as they slowed their mechs to a stop as well.

"That's it," Lloyd confirmed. "That's where they have to be."

The other ninja exchanged glances.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Kai asked.

"I'm fine," Lloyd answered.

"Your voice cracked on the word 'they,'" Zane observed. "I would hypothesize that you are not, in fact, fine."

"I'm fine!" Lloyd insisted, then, when he saw the others exchanging glances, said it again. "I'm fine!"

"If you're sure you're good doing this," Cole said doubtfully.

"I have to," Lloyd stated. "I have to, and I'm going to. So let's do it."

Without another word, Lloyd slammed the controls on his mech forward, forcing his mech through the doors and into the Throne Room.

His parents were inside.

His dad was looking at something on a map and yelling on the phone, something about telling a general to attack more fiercely. His mom was talking to a whole legion of shark warriors standing in front of her, telling them where to go. Both of their voices trailed off as Lloyd burst into the Throne Room.

"The ninja," Lord Garmadon gasped. His red eyes narrowed in on Lloyd and he ended his phone call, leaning forward in his seat. "Including the Green Ninja."

"This isn't just a bunch of rebel attacks," Lady Garmadon realized. "This is a revolution. Warriors! Attack the ninja!"

The shark warriors turned in place and began running at the ninja's mechs.

"Green Ninja, do your thing! We've got this covered!" Nya called, already starting to beat up the shark warriors who had reached her.

"We hope we've got this!" Jay yelped. "I mean, we've got this! We've definitely got this!"

The other ninja started fighting the shark warriors, circling around them and forcing them toward the doors with the help of their mechs and their elemental powers.

Hovering near the ceiling, Lloyd just sat in his mech, staring at his parents. His mouth was dry, and his eyes were watering. He didn't know what to do.

"We're getting all the guards away, we've got our part! You've got your part, Green Ninja!" Kai called out, forcing the last of the shark warriors out the doors. He followed the warriors and the other ninja out the doors, peering back in for a moment just long enough to call out, "Defeat them!"

With that last bit of advice, Kai headed out of the Throne Room. The doors closed with a bang, leaving Lloyd alone with his parents.

Defeat them.

The words rang in Lloyd's head.

Defeat them. Not fight them. Defeat them.

"Well, Green Ninja, you've come to fight us. Know this: we won't make it easy on you," Lady Garmadon warned, standing from her throne.

"You and your ninja have incited rebellion, messing with our rule in the worst kind of way. But most importantly, you've kidnapped our son," Lord Garmadon stated, also standing.

Lady Garmadon's eyes flashed dangerously. "We won't let that stand. We'll fight you to our last breaths, prophecy or no prophecy. We'll get our son back."

"We'll get our son back," Lord Garmadon agreed.

Defeat them.

Defeat them.

Defeat them.

And suddenly, Lloyd knew what to do.

He lowered his mech to the floor and powered it down. Opening the hatch, he climbed out, standing on the floor of the Throne Room which he had run across to hug his parents so many times before. This time, however, he didn't run to them.

"Getting out of your mech? Not a smart move," Lord Garmadon taunted.

"Not if you want to fight us and win," Lady Garmadon agreed.

Beneath his mask, Lloyd smiled. He didn't want to fight them and win.

So he wouldn't.

He would defeat them instead.

With that thought confidently in mind, Lloyd reached up and took off his hood.

The response was instantaneous. Lady Garmadon sat down heavily in her throne, her eyes wide and glistening with sudden tears. Lord Garmadon collapsed to his knees, all four hands reaching up to cover his mouth.

"Hi," Lloyd said, his voice cracking. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I missed you."

"Lloyd," Lord Garmadon breathed, uncovering his mouth.

"How?" Lady Garmadon asked.

"The ninja kidnapped me. They told me the truth about you, about what you've done to Ninjago, about what you're still doing to Ninjago. I realize now how much Ninjago hates you, and rightly so," Lloyd explained, then he paused. "But I also realize now how much you love me."

Lord and Lady Garmadon stared at him, speechless.

Lloyd smiled sadly and continued. "You love me so much. You make sure everyone treats me with respect. You turn my birthday into a huge celebration. You get me whatever I want and need. You always take time to spend with me, to teach me things, to love me. I think you'd do anything for me. So that's why I'm asking you to do something you never would do otherwise. I'm asking you to give up Ninjago."

"Give up Ninjago?" Lord and Lady Garmadon repeated in unison.

"Give up Ninjago," Lloyd agreed. "The other ninja and I will set up a new, better government with new, better rules. You won't be rulers anymore. In fact, you'll probably go to jail or something. But I'll make sure you're treated as well as possible, and I'll visit you all the time. We'll stay a family. That's what's most important. But if you don't admit defeat right here and now, I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave and never come back, and I'm going to let the other ninja finish fighting all the guards and come fight you. You'll lose to them, and then you'll never see me again. I think that'll defeat you just as much if I'd fought you into submission. So. What'll be? Will you give up Ninjago?"

Lord and Lady Garmadon looked at Lloyd, then at each other, then at Lloyd again. After a long moment, both of them nodded.

Lloyd smiled even though tears were spilling out of his eyes. He nodded back.


	13. I found my place

"Another day done, another mission completed," Nya said happily, stretching her arms.

"I never thought rebuilding Ninjago from the ashes of what Lord and Lady Garmadon did to it would be so hard!" Jay exclaimed.

"Hard, but good," Cole added.

Jay nodded. "Hard, but good. I mean, we've got better food distribution, all the identity locks gone, and a new government getting set in place, with elections coming up in a week. It's taking a while to get things put right, but it's worth it."

"It is worth it," Wu agreed.

"You're not just saying that because you're in the lead in the polls, are you?" Kai joked.

Wu smiled. "Perhaps."

"He's in the lead in the polls, but guess who's in second?" Nya put forward.

"Lloyd is," Zane offered.

Nya scowled at him playfully. "I said, 'guess,' Zane. It doesn't count as guessing if you can access the latest poll results with your brain."

"Oh. Then I will let everyone else guess," Zane stated.

Nya snorted. "Too late for that. Oh well. Yeah, Lloyd's in second."

"I am?" Lloyd wondered. "Really? After all the years of everyone being terrified of me?"

"Yup. Turns out basically singlehandedly saving everyone from a pair of dictators can really make people like you," Nya said nonchalantly.

"Not to mention being the chosen one of prophecy," Kai added. "Face it, bro, you've got fans who absolutely love you."

"Fans," Lloyd repeated. "Huh."

"Speaking of people who love you, Lloyd, didn't you go see your parents again today?" Cole asked.

Lloyd nodded. "They said to say hi and that they hate all of you."

Cole shook his head. "Of course they do."

"But they're still staying put in prison as they wait for things to settle down enough for us to give them a proper trial. Of course, they'll probably be staying put in prison long after that, but Dad's hoping for parole and Mom's hoping for house arrest," Lloyd added.

"Like those things'll happen," Kai stated.

Lloyd shrugged. "They can only hope."

"And we can only hope that they stop telling you to tell us that they hate us every time they see you," Jay said.

"Like that'll happen either. They're good at holding grudges," Lloyd explained.

"They have the rest of their lives to get over it," Nya stated.

Kai nodded. "Like how we have the rest of our lives to make Ninjago better and better."

That was true, Lloyd mused as the conversation turned to the things they were going to work on to help Ninjago tomorrow. They had the rest of their lives to fix things up, both in the subject of Ninjago and in the subject of Lloyd's parents. Things would keep getting better and better as time went on, and Lloyd couldn't wait to see it happen.

Lloyd smiled. All was good in Ninjago.

* * *

**AN: And that's that! Hope you all enjoyed it!**


End file.
